Every Friday, HotelNewsNow.com recaps financial news from the hotel sector’s public companies. Following are the updates for: Ameristar Casinos; Ashford Hospitality Trust; Chesapeake Lodging Trust; Choice Hotels International; FelCor Lodging Trust; Gaylord Entertainment Company; Great Wolf Resorts; Hyatt Hotels Corporation; Morgans Hotel Group; Orient-Express Hotels Limited; Pebblebrook Hotel Trust; Red Lion Hotels Corporation; and Strategic Hotels & Resorts.
Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index
The Baird/STR Hotel Stock Index closed Thursday at 1845.29. It was at 1885.39 as of 9:50 a.m. (eastern) this morning.
Ameristar Casinos
Las Vegas-based Ameristar Casinos’ (NYSE: ASCA) net loss widened to US$41.3
million during the second quarter, from US$24.9 million a year ago.
Making up a portion of the quarter’s expenses was the company’s early retirement of US$85.3 million in debt.
The company’s stock closed Thursday at US$21.72, and is up 38.96% year to date.
Ashford Hospitality Trust
Revenue per available room for legacy hotels increased by 7.2% for Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust (NYSE: AHT) during the second quarter. The company’s recently acquired Highland Hospitality hotels achieved a RevPAR gain of 3.4%, meantime.
Net loss applicable to shareholders was US$29.1 million, or 49 cents per diluted share, compared to net income of US$2 million, or 6 cents per share, a year ago.
The real-estate investment trust’s stock price closed Thursday at US$7.76 per share, down 27.14%.
Chesapeake Lodging Trust
Silver Spring, Maryland-based Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE: CHSP) doubled the number of hotels in its portfolio to 10 during the second quarter. The aggregate purchase price of the five hotels was US$347.6 million.
Pro forma occupancy increased by 2.3% to 84.5%; pro forma RevPAR increased by 9.3% to US$156.28; and pro forma ADR was up by 6.8% to US$184.86.
The Annapolis, Maryland-based REIT’s stock price closed on Thursday at US$14.61 per share. Year-to-date, the stock is down 22.33%.
Choice Hotels International
Steve Joyce, CEO of Choice Hotels International (NYSE: CHH), emphasized on Choice’s second-quarter earnings call the success the company had with increasing business booked through internal channels.
He said a strong central-reservations system is what separates Choice from other brands.
For the first half of 2011, Choice’s central reservations contribution increased to nearly 35%, which contributed to 10% increase in net revenue compared to the first half of 2010, Joyce said.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$28.12, down 26.52%.
FelCor Lodging Trust
FelCor Lodging Trust (NYSE: FCH) reported in its second-quarter earnings call that the real-estate investment trust remains focused on shoring up its balance sheet.
With three sales in July, the company has now sold six hotels during 2011 for gross proceeds of US$100 million. It repaid US$450 million of debt this year with proceeds from asset sales and the senior notes and equity offerings.
After purchasing the Royalton and Morgans hotels in midtown Manhattan for US$140 million, FelCor now owns 78 primarily upper-upscale hotels and resorts.
“We continue to execute our four primary objectives: continue to complete asset sales; acquire hotels in remaining target markets; remain strictly focused on mixed management to optimize market share and top line; and restructure the balance sheet,” CEO Richard A. Smith said.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$4.04 per share and is down 42.61% year to date.
Gaylord Entertainment Company
The dragging performance of the Washington, D.C., hotel market caused Nashville, Tennessee-based Gaylord Entertainment Company (NYSE: GET) to lower its 2011 guidance.
In addition to lower government per diems, the company has seen more short-term booking and out-of-room spending in this market, chairman and CEO Colin Reed said during a second-quarter earnings conference call.
The company now expects to see revenue per available room increase by 5.5% to 7.5%, excluding the Gaylord Opryland. That compares to its initial RevPAR growth guidance of 7.5% to 9.5%, excluding Opryland.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$25.33 per share, down 25.52% year to date.
Great Wolf Resorts
Madison, Wisconsin-based Great Wolf Resorts (Nasdaq: WOLF) said its second-quarter net loss narrowed to US$6.8 million, or 22 cents per share, from US$12.8 million, or 41 cents per share.
Total revenues increased 13.7% to US$75.7 from US$66.6 million in the second quarter of 2010, due primarily to increased demand at the company's resorts.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$2.84 per share, up 8.81%.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Hyatt Hotel Corporation (NYSE: H) president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian spent much of his time on the company’s earnings call this week discussing and answering questions about the chain’s three, high-profile transactions during the past few months—the acquisition of three extended-stay hotels in California, the formation of a joint venture with Noble Investments and the acquisition of assets from LodgeWorks.
Hoplamazian sees nothing but upside in the acquisitions. “When you look at the assets that we will be bringing on board upon closing for LodgeWorks and then developing with Noble and also the three that we purchased in California, we think that in all these cases, we're going to end up with expansion of earnings potential over the coming several years.”
The company chief said that based on return-on-investment framework in the mid- to higher-single-digit capitalization rates, “we would look to expand that into double digits over time on a return on gross investment.”
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$36.12 per share and is down 21.07%.
Morgans Hotel Group Company
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at Las Vegas-based Morgans Hotel Group Company (Nasdaq: MHGC) decreased by 14.8% to US$11.8 million during the second quarter.
RevPAR at system-wide, comparable hotels increased by 14.4% in constant dollars.
"We are moving quickly to become a global leader in lifestyle hospitality management. The goal is and always will be clear: to drive growth and long term shareholder value. Four months into the new management structure, we've acted swiftly to position ourselves for success. Asset sales and a new (US)$100 million credit facility have allowed us to address key short-term debt maturities while providing liquidity to grow. Second quarter results outperformed industry averages across all our markets and we're particularly pleased with the early success of the Mondrian SoHo, which we view as a reflection of our brands' untapped growth potential. We're excited about our robust development pipeline that is already beginning to show results, as reflected by the just-announced Mondrian management agreement at Baha Mar,” CEO Michael Gross said in a statement.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$6.01, down 33.74% year to date.
Orient-Express Hotels Limited
Hamilton, Bermuda-based Orient-Express Hotels Limited (NYSE: OEH) said its revenue from owned hotels grew by 25% to US$177.4 million during the second quarter.
"Orient-Express performed well in the second quarter, reflecting continued positive momentum in the luxury leisure travel market and the solid performance of our iconic properties as well as our train, cruise and other assets," Bob Lovejoy, chairman and interim CEO said in a statement. "Revenue excluding Real Estate grew by 23% compared to the prior year period, driven by strong performance in Europe, particularly our Italian properties. Adjusted EBITDA before Real Estate increased by 28%, compared with the second quarter of last year, and we delivered our sixth consecutive quarter of RevPAR growth."
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$8.71 per share, down 32.95%.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust
REIT Pebblebrook Hotel Trust (NYSE: PEB) said its second-quarter net income totaled US$1.8 million, reversing the year-ago loss of US$3.8 million.
Pro forma RevPAR was US$146.97, up from US$137.91 a year ago.
“Business travel demand, including both group and transient travel, remained strong throughout the quarter, particularly in San Francisco, West Hollywood, Minneapolis and
Philadelphia. Despite the ongoing concerns about the U.S. economy, corporate profits continue to grow, and as a result, corporate travel demand continues to recover, allowing us to increase pricing and yield higher average daily rates,” chairman, president and CEO Jon E. Bortz said in a statement.
The REIT’s stock price closed Thursday at US$17.29 per share and is down 14.91% year to date.
Red Lion Hotels Corporation
Total hotel revenue for Red Lion Hotels Corporation (NYSE: RLH) of Spokane, Washington, was US$39.3 million, up slightly from US$38.6 million a year earlier.
Net income was US$18.6 million, or 97 cents per share, compared to a loss of US$100,000 a year ago.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$7.14 per share and are down 10.53% year to date.
Strategic Hotels & Resorts
Profit increased to US$39.5 million during the second quarter for Chicago-based Strategic Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: BEE), from a loss in 2010 of US$47.4 million.
“Strategic Hotels continues to far outpace both the industry average as well as our relevant competitors in nearly all vital measures of performance. Impressive RevPAR and EBITDA performance can be attributed to the sophistication of our operational and asset management capabilities, the superior condition of our properties and the virtually zero new supply in the markets where we compete,” Laurence Geller, CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, said in a statement.
The company’s stock price closed Thursday at US$5.86 per share and is up 10.78% year to date.
Compiled by Shawn A. Turner.
