Choice Hotels International Reports A 10 Percent Increase In Fourth Quarter Diluted Earnings Per Share

ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) today reported its results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2016. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $31.8 million or $0.56 per diluted share, compared with $29.2 million or $0.51 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2015.  Fourth quarter adjusted earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was $56.0 million, compared with $50.6 million in the prior year, an increase of 11 percent.

"We are pleased to report another record year of revenue, operating income and net income performance. 2016 was a strong year for Choice Hotels highlighted by our domestic RevPAR growth which continues to outpace industry performance and strong development results," said Stephen P. Joyce, chief executive officer of Choice Hotels. "There are many contributing factors to our success highlighted by our efforts to deliver new strategic programs and tools designed to increase reservation delivery to our franchisees, the acceleration of our growth and performance in the upscale category, and our strong development momentum. We are optimistic that our expanded programs and services will result in continued strong RevPAR performance and developer interest in 2017 and beyond."

Highlights of the company's fourth quarter and full-year 2016 results are as follows:

Overall Results

• Diluted earnings per share (EPS) for the fourth quarter totaled $0.56, an increase of 10 percent from the comparable period of the prior year, and increased 11 percent for the full year to $2.46; excluding executive termination benefits, full year adjusted diluted EPS increased 12 percent over the prior year.
• Net income totaled $31.8 million for the fourth quarter and $139.4 million for the full year.
• Adjusted EBITDA from hotel franchising activities for the fourth quarter increased 8 percent from the prior year fourth quarter to $61.4 million and increased 7 percent to $273.3 million for the full year.
• Adjusted hotel franchising margins for the fourth quarter increased 110 basis points from the prior year fourth quarter to 64.4 percent, and increased 90 basis points to 68.2 percent for the full year.

Royalties

• Domestic royalty fees for fourth quarter totaled $68.4 million, an increase of 8.4 percent from the comparable period of the prior year; full year domestic royalties increased 6.9 percent to $300.7 million from the same period of 2015.
• Domestic system-wide revenue per available room (RevPAR) increased 5 percent and 3.9 percent for the fourth quarter and full year, respectively. Occupancy and average daily rates increased 150 basis points and 2.3 percent, respectively in the fourth quarter from the same period of 2015.
• Domestic RevPAR performance for the fourth quarter of 2016 exceeded total industry results by 180 basis points, and also exceeded growth reported by Smith Travel Research for the primary chain scale segments in which the company competes.
• Comfort family of brands and Sleep recorded 27 and 31 consecutive months of RevPAR index gains compared to its competition, respectively.
• Cambria hotel & suites achieved full year RevPAR of over $100.
• Effective royalty rate increased 13 basis points and 11 basis points for the fourth quarter and full year 2016, respectively.
• Domestic hotels as of December 31, 2016, increased 1.6 percent from December 31, 2015.

Development

• Approved 267 new franchised hotels for development in the fourth quarter, bringing full year new franchise agreements to 645 hotels. New construction franchise agreements increased 23 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 from the comparable period of 2015.
• Cambria hotel & suites continued to enter major markets with groundbreakings and openings in Philadelphia, two projects in Chicago, Nashville and New York's Times Square.
• The company's domestic pipeline of hotels awaiting conversion, under construction or approved for development as of December 31, 2016, increased 19 percent from December 31, 2015.
• The domestic new construction pipeline for Cambria hotel & suites as of December 31, 2016, totaled 66 hotels, a 53 percent increase from December 31, 2015.

"We continue to have great success in executing and opening new construction hotels in top markets, as developers have taken note of our strong RevPAR performance and the brand strategies that we have implemented to improve hotel performance," said Patrick Pacious, president and chief operating officer, Choice Hotels. "We are particularly pleased that Cambria hotel & suites and the Comfort brands continue to draw attention from top hotel developers, resulting in an increase in new construction projects in prime urban locations.  We expect to see continued interest and development of these brands in highly desirable markets."

Special Item

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded an executive termination benefit charge of approximately $2.2 million. This special item impacted diluted EPS by $0.03 per share for the year ended December 31, 2016. The company uses non-GAAP measures that exclude executive termination benefits because those non-GAAP measures allow for period-over-period comparison of on-going core operations before the impact of these charges. These non-GAAP measures, which are reconciled to the comparable GAAP measures in Exhibit 8, include adjusted net income, adjusted diluted EPS, adjusted hotel franchising selling, general and administrative expenses, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted hotel franchising margins.

Use of Cash Flows

Dividends
During the fourth quarter of 2016, the company's board of directors announced a 5 percent increase, effective the first quarter of 2017, of the current quarterly dividend rate per common share to $0.215 per share.  During the year ended December 31, 2016, the company paid cash dividends totaling approximately $46 million.

Share Repurchases
The company repurchased 0.6 million shares of common stock under its share repurchase program during the year ended December 31, 2016, at a total cost of approximately $30 million. During the fourth quarter, the company's board of directors approved increasing the number of shares authorized under its long-standing share repurchase program by 3 million shares. Thus, the company currently has authorization to purchase up to 4.0 million additional shares under this program.

Hotel Development & Financing
Pursuant to its program to encourage acceleration of the growth of our upscale select-service Cambria hotels & suites brand, the company advanced approximately $104 million in support of the brand's development during the year ended December 31, 2016. The company also recycled approximately $28 million of investments in support of Cambria development projects resulting in net advances of $76 million for the current year.  These advances are primarily in the form of joint venture investments, forgivable key money loans, senior and mezzanine lending and site acquisitions.  On December 31, 2016, the company had approximately $204 million reflected in its consolidated balance sheet pursuant to these financial support activities. With respect to lending and joint venture investments, the company generally expects to recycle these loans and investments within a five-year period.

Outlook

The company's consolidated 2017 outlook reflects the following assumptions:

Consolidated Outlook

• Net income for full year 2017 is expected to range between $157 million and $160 million.
• Adjusted EBITDA for full year 2017 is expected to range between $292 million and $297 million.
• The company's first quarter 2017 diluted EPS is expected to be at least $0.49.
• The company expects full year 2017 diluted EPS to range between $2.78 and $2.84.
• The recurring effective tax rate is expected to be approximately 33.5% for the first quarter and full year 2017.
• Diluted EPS estimates are based on the current number of shares outstanding and thus do not factor in any changes that may occur due to new equity grants or any further repurchases of common stock under the company's share repurchase program.
• The EPS and consolidated EBITDA estimates assume that we incur net reductions in EBITDA related to non-hotel franchising activities at the midpoint of the range for these investments.

Hotel Franchising

• Adjusted EBITDA from hotel franchising activities for full year 2017 are expected to range between $297 million and $302 million.
• Net domestic unit growth for 2017 is expected to range between approximately 2% and 3%.
• RevPAR is expected to increase between 3.5% and 4.5% for the first quarter and range between 3.0% and 4.0% for full year 2017.
• The effective royalty rate is expected to increase between 12 and 14 basis points for full year 2017 as compared to full year 2016.

Non-Hotel Franchising Activities

• Net reductions in full year 2017 EBITDA relating to our non-hotel franchising operations, which primarily relate to SkyTouch and vacation rental activities are expected to range between approximately $4 million and $6 million.

Conference Call
Choice will conduct a conference call on Thursday, February 16, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. ET to discuss the company's fourth quarter 2016 and full-year results. The dial-in number to listen to the call domestically is 1-855-638-5678 and the number for international participants is 1-920-663-6286.  The conference call also will be webcast simultaneously via the company's website, www.choicehotels.com.  Interested investors and other parties wishing to access the call via the webcast should go to the website and click on the Investor Info link.  The Investor page will feature a conference call microphone icon to access the call.

The call will be recorded and available for replay beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, February 16, 2017, by calling 1-855-859-2056 (domestic) or 1-404-537-3406 (international) and entering access code 48329007. In addition, the call will be archived and available on choicehotels.com via the Investor Info link.

About Choice Hotels
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) is one of the world's largest lodging companies. With more than 6,500 hotels franchised in more than 40 countries and territories, Choice Hotels International represents more than 500,000 rooms around the globe.  As of December 31, 2016, 775 hotels were in our development pipeline. Our company's Ascend Hotel Collection®, Cambria® hotels & suites, Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Sleep Inn®, Quality®, Clarion®, MainStay Suites®, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel®, Econo Lodge®, Rodeway Inn®, and Vacation Rentals by Choice Hotels™ brands provide a spectrum of lodging choices to meet guests' needs. With more than 30 million members and counting, our Choice Privileges® rewards program enhances every trip a guest takes, with benefits ranging from instant, every day rewards to exceptional experiences, starting right when they join.  All hotels and vacation rentals are independently owned and operated. Visit us at www.choicehotels.com for more information.

SkyTouch Technology® is a business division of Choice Hotels that develops and markets cloud-based technology products, including inventory management, pricing and connectivity to third party channels, to hoteliers not under franchise agreements with the company.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Generally, our use of words such as "expect," "estimate," "believe," "anticipate," "should,"  "will," "forecast," "plan,"  "project," "assume" or similar words of futurity identify such forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements are based on management's current beliefs, assumptions and expectations regarding future events, which in turn are based on information currently available to management.  Such statements may relate to projections of the company's revenue, earnings and other financial and operational measures, company debt levels, ability to repay outstanding indebtedness, payment of dividends, repurchases of common stock and future operations, among other matters.   We caution you not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.  Forward-looking statements do not guarantee future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.

Several factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to differ materially from those expressed in or contemplated by the forward-looking statements.  Such risks include, but are not limited to, changes to general, domestic and foreign economic conditions; foreign currency fluctuations; operating risks common in the lodging and franchising industries; changes to the desirability of our brands as viewed by hotel operators and customers; changes to the terms or termination of our contracts with franchisees; our ability to keep pace with improvements in technology utilized for marketing and reservations systems and other operating systems; our ability to grow our franchise system; exposure to risks related to development activities; fluctuations in the supply and demand for hotels rooms; our ability to realize anticipated benefits from acquired businesses; the level of acceptance of alternative growth strategies we may implement; operating risks associated with our international operations; the outcome of litigation; and our ability to manage our indebtedness.  These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our annual reports on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports filed on Form 10-Q.  We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Statement Concerning Non-GAAP Financial Measurements Presented in this Press Release
Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted diluted EPS, hotel franchising revenues, adjusted hotel franchising SG&A, Adjusted EBITDA from hotel franchising activities and adjusted hotel franchising margins are non-GAAP financial measurements.  These measures should not be considered as an alternative to any measure of performance or liquidity as promulgated under or authorized by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), such as net income, total revenues and operating margins.  The company's calculation of these measurements may be different from the calculations used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited.  The company has included an exhibit accompanying this release that reconciles these items to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. We discuss management's reasons for reporting these non-GAAP measures below.

Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization: Adjusted EBITDA reflects net income excluding the impact of interest expense, interest income, provision for income taxes, depreciation and amortization, other (gains) and losses, equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates, mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments and executive termination benefits. We consider adjusted EBITDA to be an indicator of operating performance because we use it to measure our ability to service debt, fund capital expenditures, and expand our business. We also use adjusted EBITDA, as do analysts, lenders, investors and others, to evaluate companies because it excludes certain items that can vary widely across different industries or among companies within the same industry. For example, interest expense can be dependent on a company's capital structure, debt levels and credit ratings. Accordingly, the impact of interest expense on earnings can vary significantly among companies. The tax positions of companies can also vary because of their differing abilities to take advantage of tax benefits and because of the tax policies of the jurisdictions in which they operate. As a result, effective tax rates and provision for income taxes can vary considerably among companies. Adjusted EBITDA also excludes depreciation and amortization because companies utilize productive assets of different ages and use different methods of both acquiring and depreciating productive assets. These differences can result in considerable variability in the relative costs of productive assets and the depreciation and amortization expense among companies. Mark to market adjustments on non-qualified retirement plan investments recorded in SG&A are excluded from EBITDA as the company accounts for these investments in accordance with accounting for deferred compensation arrangements when investments are held in a rabbi trust and invested.  Changes in the fair value of the investments are recognized as both compensation expense in SG&A and other gains and losses.  As a result, the changes in the fair value of the investments do not have an impact on the company's net income. These amounts are excluded from EBITDA as they can vary widely across reporting periods based on the performance of the investments and are not an indicator of the operating performance of the company.

Hotel Franchising Revenues, Adjusted Hotel Franchising EBITDA, Adjusted Hotel Franchising SG&A and Margins:  The company reports hotel franchising revenues, adjusted hotel franchising EBITDA, adjusted franchising hotel SG&A and margins which exclude marketing and reservation revenues; the SkyTouch Technology division; recently acquired operations that provide Software as a Service ("SaaS") technology solutions to vacation rental management companies; revenue generated from the ownership of an office building that is leased to a third-party and executive termination benefits.  These non-GAAP measures are a commonly used measure of performance in our industry and facilitate comparisons between the company and its competitors. Marketing and reservation activities are excluded since the company is required by its franchise agreements to use the fees collected for marketing and reservation activities; as such, no income or loss to the company is generated. Cumulative marketing and reservation system fees not expended are recorded as a liability in the company's financial statements and are carried over to the next year and expended in accordance with the franchise agreements. Cumulative marketing and reservation expenditures in excess of fees collected for marketing and reservation activities are deferred and recorded as an asset in the company's financial statements and recovered in future periods.  SkyTouch Technology is a division of the company that develops and markets cloud-based technology products, including inventory management, pricing and connectivity to third party channels, to hoteliers not under franchise agreements with the company. The operations for SkyTouch Technology and our vacation rental technology solutions provider are excluded since they do not reflect the company's core franchising business but are adjacent, complementary lines of business.

© 2017 Choice Hotels International, Inc.  All rights reserved.