LaSalle Hotel Properties Reports Second Quarter 2014 Results

LaSalle Hotel Properties (NYSE: LHO) today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. The Company’s results include the following:

(1) See tables later in press release, which list adjustments that reconcile net income to earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA"), adjusted EBITDA, funds from operations ("FFO"), FFO per share/unit, adjusted FFO, adjusted FFO per share/unit and hotel EBITDA. EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA, FFO, FFO per share/unit, adjusted FFO, adjusted FFO per share/unit and hotel EBITDA are non-GAAP financial measures. See further discussion of these non-GAAP measures and reconciliations to net income later in this press release.

Second Quarter Results and Activities

• RevPAR: Room revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) for the quarter ended June 30, 2014 increased 10.3 percent to $207.94, as a result of a 6.6 percent increase in average daily rate (“ADR”) to $241.08 and a 3.4 percent improvement in occupancy to 86.3 percent.
• Hotel EBITDA Margin: The Company’s hotel EBITDA margin for the second quarter increased 62 basis points from the comparable prior year period to 37.3 percent, its highest-ever quarterly hotel EBITDA margin.
• Adjusted EBITDA: The Company’s adjusted EBITDA was $109.6 million, an increase of 17.7 percent over the second quarter of 2013. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA was negatively impacted by an estimated $0.5 million of EBITDA as a result of the sale of Hilton Alexandria Old Town prior to the end of the quarter.
• Adjusted FFO: The Company generated second quarter adjusted FFO of $86.0 million, or $0.82 per diluted share/unit, compared to $70.3 million or $0.73 per diluted share/unit for the comparable prior year period, an increase of 12.3 percent.
• Hotel Acquisition: On April 2, the Company acquired the 200-room Hotel Vitale in San Francisco, CA for $130.0 million. Hotel Vitale is located on the Embarcadero, overlooking the San Francisco Bay.
• Dividend: On April 23, the Company increased its dividend 34 percent to $0.375 per common share for the quarter ended June 30, 2014. The dividend represents an annual run rate of $1.50 per share and a 4.2 percent yield based on the closing share price on July 22, 2014.
• Debt Repayment: On May 1, the Company repaid the $8.7 million outstanding mortgage, secured by Hotel Deca in Seattle, Washington. The Company has no remaining debt maturities in 2014.
• Hotel Disposition: On June 17, the Company sold Hilton Alexandria Old Town for $93.4 million.
• Preferred Redemption: During the second quarter, the Company announced that it would redeem all of its outstanding 7.25 percent Series G Preferred Shares for $58.7 million plus accrued dividends through the redemption date. The redemption closed on July 3.
• Capital Investments: The Company invested $22.4 million of capital in its hotels, including the completion of the Terrace Lounge at WestHouse in New York and a lobby and lounge renovation at The Grafton on Sunset in Los Angeles.

“Our portfolio delivered very strong second quarter results,” said Michael D. Barnello, President and Chief Executive Officer of LaSalle Hotel Properties. “RevPAR and margins were above the high end of our outlook. Adjusted EBITDA and FFO also exceeded our outlook, despite impact from the sale of Hilton Alexandria Old Town.”

“Overall, the operating environment remains favorable. Industry demand growth has been robust and fundamentals remain strong.”

“In addition, the sale of Hilton Alexandria Old Town capped off a terrific investment for us, which generated a 13.5 percent unleveraged IRR over 10 plus years. We used a portion of the proceeds to redeem our outstanding Series G Preferred Shares, further reducing our cost of capital.”

Year-to-date Results

For the six months ended June 30, 2014, RevPAR increased 7.8 percent to $177.10, with occupancy growth of 1.1 percent to 79.3 percent and ADR improvement of 6.7 percent to $223.44. The Company’s hotel EBITDA margin was 31.2 percent, which was flat compared to the same prior year period.

Balance Sheet

As of June 30, 2014, the Company had total outstanding debt of $1.2 billion, including $197.0 million outstanding on its senior unsecured credit facility. Total net debt to trailing 12 month Corporate EBITDA (as defined in the Company’s senior unsecured credit facility) was 3.7 times as of June 30, 2014 and its fixed charge coverage ratio was 3.7 times. For the second quarter, the Company’s weighted average interest rate was 3.6 percent. As of June 30, 2014, the Company had capacity of $575 million available on its credit facilities.

2014 Outlook

The Company is updating its 2014 outlook to incorporate its recent activities and to reflect its performance-to-date. The sale of Hilton Alexandria Old Town has the impact of reducing our full year adjusted EBITDA outlook by approximately $4.0 million, of which $0.5 million occurred during the second quarter. The outlook is based on an economic environment that continues to improve and assumes no additional acquisitions, dispositions or capital markets activities. The Company’s RevPAR growth and financial expectations for 2014 are as follows:

Third Quarter 2014 Outlook

The Company expects third quarter RevPAR to increase 5.0 percent to 8.5 percent and hotel EBITDA margins to range from approximately flat to an increase of 125 basis points relative to the same prior year period. The Company expects its portfolio to generate adjusted EBITDA of $99.0 million to $105.0 million and adjusted FFO per share/unit of $0.73 to $0.79.

Earnings Call

The Company will conduct its quarterly conference call on Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 9:30 AM eastern time. To participate in the conference call, please dial (877) 795-3638. Additionally, a live webcast of the conference call will be available through the Company’s website. To access, log on to http://www.lasallehotels.com. A replay of the conference call will be archived and available online through the Investor Relations section of http://www.lasallehotels.com.

LaSalle Hotel Properties is a leading multi-operator real estate investment trust. The Company owns 45 hotels. The properties are upscale, full-service hotels, totaling approximately 11,300 guest rooms in 14 markets in 10 states and the District of Columbia. The Company focuses on owning, redeveloping and repositioning upscale, full-service hotels located in urban, resort and convention markets. LaSalle Hotel Properties seeks to grow through strategic relationships with premier lodging companies, including Westin Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Outrigger Lodging Services, Noble House Hotels & Resorts, Hyatt Hotels Corporation, Benchmark Hospitality, White Lodging Services Corporation, Commune Hotels and Resorts, Davidson Hotel Company, Denihan Hospitality Group, the Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, LLC, Accor, Destination Hotels & Resorts, HEI Hotels & Resorts, JRK Hotel Group, Inc., Viceroy Hotel Group, Highgate Hotels and Access Hotels & Resorts.

This press release, together with other statements and information publicly disseminated by the Company, contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and includes this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. Forward-looking statements, which are based on certain assumptions and describe the Company's future plans, strategies and expectations, are generally identifiable by use of the words “will,” "believe," "expect," "intend," "anticipate," "estimate," "project" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, among others, statements about the outlook for RevPAR, adjusted FFO, adjusted EBITDA and derivations thereof. You should not rely on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could materially affect actual results, performances or achievements. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, (i) the Company’s dependence on third-party managers of its hotels, including its inability to implement strategic business decisions directly, (ii) risks associated with the hotel industry, including competition, increases in wages, energy costs and other operating costs, actual or threatened terrorist attacks, downturns in general and local economic conditions and cancellation of or delays in the completion of anticipated demand generators, (iii) the availability and terms of financing and capital and the general volatility of securities markets, (iv) risks associated with the real estate industry, including environmental contamination and costs of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act and similar laws, (v) interest rate increases, (vi) the possible failure of the Company to qualify as a REIT and the risk of changes in laws affecting REITs, (vii) the possibility of uninsured losses, (viii) risks associated with redevelopment and repositioning projects, including delays and cost overruns and (ix) the risk factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K as updated in its Quarterly Reports. Accordingly, there is no assurance that the Company's expectations will be realized. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in the Company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

For additional information or to receive press releases via e-mail, please visit our website at www.lasallehotels.com

With respect to Hotel EBITDA, the Company believes that excluding the effect of corporate-level expenses, non-cash items, and the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities provides a more complete understanding of the operating results over which individual hotels and operators have direct control. We believe property-level results provide investors with supplemental information on the ongoing operational performance of our hotels and effectiveness of the third-party management companies operating our business on a property-level basis.

Hotel EBITDA includes all properties owned as of June 30, 2014 for the Company's period of ownership in 2014 and the comparable period in 2013.

Note:

This schedule includes the operating data for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 for all properties owned by the Company as of June 30, 2014. Harbor Court, Triton, Serrano, and Southernmost are shown in 2013 for their comparative period of ownership in 2014. Vitale excludes April 2014 ownership and the comparative period of April 2013. Excludes all Old Town ownership and comparative period.

Note:

This schedule includes operating data for all properties owned as of June 30, 2014 for the Company's period of ownership in 2014 and the comparable period in 2013.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

FFO, EBITDA and Hotel EBITDA

The Company considers the non-GAAP measures of FFO (including FFO per share/unit), EBITDA and hotel EBITDA to be key supplemental measures of the Company's performance and should be considered along with, but not as alternatives to, net income or loss as a measure of the Company's operating performance. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most real estate industry investors consider FFO, EBITDA and hotel EBITDA to be helpful in evaluating a real estate company's operations.

The White Paper on FFO approved by NAREIT in April 2002, as revised in 2011, defines FFO as net income or loss (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains or losses from sales of properties and items classified by GAAP as extraordinary, plus real estate-related depreciation and amortization (excluding amortization of deferred finance costs) and impairment writedowns, and after comparable adjustments for the Company's portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities and joint ventures. The Company computes FFO consistent with standards established by NAREIT, which may not be comparable to FFO reported by other REITs that do not define the term in accordance with the current NAREIT definition or that interpret the current NAREIT definition differently than the Company.

With respect to FFO, the Company believes that excluding the effect of extraordinary items, real estate-related depreciation and amortization and impairments, and the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities, all of which are based on historical cost accounting and which may be of limited significance in evaluating current performance, can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs, even though FFO does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common shareholders. However, FFO may not be helpful when comparing the Company to non-REITs.

With respect to EBITDA, the Company believes that excluding the effect of non-operating expenses and non-cash charges, and the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities, all of which are also based on historical cost accounting and may be of limited significance in evaluating current performance, can help eliminate the accounting effects of depreciation and amortization, and financing decisions and facilitate comparisons of core operating profitability between periods and between REITs, even though EBITDA also does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common shareholders.

With respect to hotel EBITDA, the Company believes that excluding the effect of corporate-level expenses, non-cash items, and the portion of these items related to unconsolidated entities, provides a more complete understanding of the operating results over which individual hotels and operators have direct control. We believe property-level results provide investors with supplemental information on the ongoing operational performance of our hotels and effectiveness of the third-party management companies operating our business on a property-level basis.

FFO, EBITDA and hotel EBITDA do not represent cash generated from operating activities as determined by GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income or loss, cash flows from operations or any other operating performance measure prescribed by GAAP. FFO, EBITDA and hotel EBITDA are not measures of the Company's liquidity, nor are FFO, EBITDA and hotel EBITDA indicative of funds available to fund the Company's cash needs, including its ability to make cash distributions. These measurements do not reflect cash expenditures for long-term assets and other items that have been and will be incurred. FFO, EBITDA and hotel EBITDA may include funds that may not be available for management's discretionary use due to functional requirements to conserve funds for capital expenditures, property acquisitions, and other commitments and uncertainties. To compensate for this, management considers the impact of these excluded items to the extent they are material to operating decisions or the evaluation of the Company's operating performance.

Adjusted FFO and Adjusted EBITDA

The Company presents adjusted FFO (including adjusted FFO per share/unit) and adjusted EBITDA, which adjusts for certain additional items including gains on sale of property and impairment losses (to the extent included in EBITDA), acquisition transaction costs, costs associated with the departure of executive officers, costs associated with the recognition of issuance costs related to the calling of preferred shares and certain other items. The Company excludes these items as it believes it allows for meaningful comparisons with other REITs and between periods and is more indicative of the ongoing performance of its assets. As with FFO, EBITDA, and hotel EBITDA, the Company’s calculation of adjusted FFO and adjusted EBITDA may be different from similar adjusted measures calculated by other REITs.