Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. Reports Results For The First Quarter 2015 And Announces Share Repurchase Program

BETHESDA, Md., April 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: HST), the nation's largest lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT"), today announced results of operations for the first quarter of 2015.

First quarter 2015 results reflect the following:

• Comparable RevPAR on a constant dollar basis improved 3.8% for the quarter, driven by rate growth of 4.8%, partially offset by a decrease in occupancy of 0.7 percentage points. The Company's comparable operating results were significantly affected by disruption related to the renovation of guest rooms and public spaces. For the 85 hotels with no renovation disruption in either of the first quarter of 2014 and 2015, RevPAR increased 5.5% on a constant dollar basis.
• The Boston market had very strong RevPAR growth of 20.5% for the quarter, benefiting from improvements in group demand in 2015 and less disruption as a result of the completion of significant renovations in 2014. Consistent with recent trends, the west coast markets had strong operating results, especially San Francisco where RevPAR increased 15.4%. Driven by strong group and transient demand, this market experienced a 10.3% improvement in rates with occupancy levels in excess of 81%.
• During the first quarter, the Company's New York and Washington, D.C. markets continued to lag the portfolio. In New York several factors contributed to softer demand and overall pricing weakness, including a reduction in city-wide events, particularly the Super Bowl in the first quarter of 2014, and a series of winter storms, as well as increased supply. In Washington, D.C., results were negatively affected by significant room renovations at several of the Company's largest properties, including the Grand Hyatt Washington, JW Marriott Washington, D.C. and Hyatt Regency Reston.
• Total revenues increased 0.6% for the quarter, reflecting revenue growth of 3.0% at the Company's comparable properties, partially offset by disposition activity that exceeded acquisitions over the past twelve months that reduced total revenues by $23 million for the quarter.
• The Company's comparable room revenue increased 3.0% for the quarter, reflecting a 3.8% increase in comparable RevPAR on a constant dollar basis, partially offset by currency translation effects for our international properties. Comparable results were affected by international properties, which had a RevPAR increase of 1.3% in constant dollars. Excluding the Calgary Marriott Downtown from the international results, which experienced a RevPAR decrease of 42% during the quarter due to renovations, the Company's international properties had a RevPAR increase of 6.0% in constant dollars.
• Adjusted EBITDA increased $13 million in the quarter reflecting improvements in the operating results of the Company's portfolio. In the first quarter, Adjusted EBITDA was negatively affected by hotel dispositions and currency fluctuations. The net effect of dispositions and acquisitions is estimated to have decreased net income by $4 million and Adjusted EBITDA by $6 million, while the effect of currency fluctuations is estimated to have decreased Adjusted EBITDA by $4 million, with no impact to net income.
• Comparable hotel EBITDA increased 5.0% for the quarter, resulting in an increase in comparable hotel EBITDA margin of 50 basis points compared to the first quarter 2014.
• Adjusted FFO per diluted share increased 6.1% to $0.35 per share for the quarter.
• Net income decreased $81 million to $104 million for the quarter, as the increase in operations was offset by a decrease in gains on asset sales of $108 million.

Share Repurchase Program

As the Company has achieved its long term balance sheet objectives and expects to continue to generate cash from operations and proceeds from asset sales, its Board of Directors has authorized a program to repurchase up to $500 million of common stock. The common stock may be purchased in the open market or through private transactions from time to time over the next 18 months depending upon market conditions. The level of purchases will also depend upon operating results, funds generated by sales activity, dividends that may be required by those sales, and investment options that may be available, including reinvesting in the portfolio or acquiring new hotels, as well as maintaining the Company's strong leverage position. The plan does not obligate the Company to repurchase any specific number of shares and may be suspended at any time at its discretion.

Rebranding and Franchise Opportunities

The Company continued to make significant progress on its strategic initiative to evaluate and opportunistically adjust the operator, brand and contract terms of each of its hotels. This may include new relationships with independent operators that may be an improved fit for smaller or unique properties. 

• During the second quarter the Company completed an agreement to convert The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix to an independent hotel to be operated by Destination Hotels. The property will close in July 2015 for extensive renovation work and will reopen early in 2016 as part of the Autograph Collection, a diverse collection of high-personality independent hotels worldwide.
• The Company will close its Four Seasons Philadelphia property in June 2015 in order to expedite renovation and rebranding efforts to convert this property to a contemporary, independent luxury hotel to be operated by Sage Hospitality. The Company anticipates reopening this property by the end of the year.

Redevelopment, Return On Investment ("ROI") and Acquisition Capital Projects

The Company invested approximately $45 million in the first quarter on redevelopment, ROI and acquisition capital expenditures. Projects completed during the first quarter include the conversion of a restaurant to 4,800 square feet of meeting space at the Hilton Melbourne South Wharf and the conversion of underutilized space at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa into 6,300 square feet of meeting space.

For 2015, the Company anticipates completing several large-scale redevelopment projects which entail the closure of hotels and meeting spaces. The Company expects that redevelopment projects, ROI, and acquisition capital expenditures for 2015 will range from $270 million to $285 million.  

Renewal and Replacement Expenditures

The Company invested approximately $125 million in renewal and replacement capital expenditures during the first quarter 2015, an increase of approximately 65% over the first quarter of 2014 and approximately 35% of the forecast expenditures for the year. During the quarter, major projects in process included rooms renovations at the Calgary Marriott Downtown, JW Marriott Washington, D.C., JW Marriott Houston, San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk, Westin South Coast Plaza Costa Mesa and the Westin Chicago River North, as well as lobby and meeting space renovations at the Grand Hyatt Washington, the Westin Seattle and Boston Marriott Copley Place. For 2015, the Company expects that overall renewal and replacement expenditures will total $335 million to $355 million.

Disposition      

In the first quarter, the Company was able to take advantage of strengthening investor demand in secondary/tertiary markets with the sale of the Delta Meadowvale Hotel & Conference Centre, Toronto, for total proceeds of C$42 million ($33 million), including the FF&E fund.

Balance Sheet

As of March 31, 2015, the Company had approximately $485 million of cash and cash equivalents and $815 million of available capacity under its credit facility. As of March 31, 2015, total debt was $4.0 billion, with an average maturity of five years and an average interest rate of 4.8%, including nearly 80% with a fixed rate of interest.

European Joint Venture

The European joint venture's comparable hotel RevPAR on a constant euro basis increased approximately 4.2% for the first quarter 2015. The comparable RevPAR results were driven by strength in transient business, leading to occupancy increases of 1.2 percentage points for the quarter and rate growth of 2.3%. The increase in comparable hotel RevPAR was partially offset by a decrease of 0.8% in comparable food and beverage revenues, which resulted in a total revenue increase of 2.7% at the European joint venture's comparable properties.

Dividend

The Company's policy is that it generally intends to distribute, over time, 100% of its taxable income, which is dependent primarily on the Company's results of operations, as well as tax gains and losses from property sales. The Company paid a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.20 per share on its common stock on April 15, 2015 to stockholders of record on March 31, 2015. Any future dividend is subject to approval by the Company's Board of Directors.

2015 Outlook

The Company expects a solid year of growth in its U.S. portfolio in 2015. Similar to the trends experienced in 2014, RevPAR growth is expected to be driven by strength in several of the Company's west coast markets, while growth in the New York and Washington, D.C. markets continue to be hindered by the recent new supply and renovation activity, respectively. Additionally, the operating results will be affected by the level of acquisitions and dispositions, renovation disruption and the expected continued strength of the US dollar on international operations.

The Company anticipates that its 2015 operating results will change as follows:

Based upon the above parameters, the Company estimates its 2015 guidance as follows (in millions, except per share amounts):

See the 2015 Forecast Schedules and the Notes to Financial Information for other assumptions used in the forecasts and items that may affect forecast results.

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 97 properties in the United States and 16 properties internationally totaling approximately 59,000 rooms. The Company also holds non-controlling interests in five joint ventures, including one in Europe that owns 19 hotels with approximately 6,500 rooms and one in Asia that has interests in four hotels in Australia and India. Guided by a disciplined approach to capital allocation and aggressive asset management, the Company partners with premium brands such as Marriott^®, Ritz-Carlton^®, Westin^®, Sheraton^®, W^®, St. Regis^®, Le Meridien^®, The Luxury Collection^®, Hyatt^®, Fairmont^®, Hilton^®, Swissotel^®, ibis^®, Pullman^®, and Novotel^® as well as independent brands in the operation of properties in over 50 major markets worldwide. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.hosthotels.com.

Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. These forward-looking statements include forecast results and are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "should," "plan," "predict," "project," "will," "continue" and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts of future results. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks include, but are not limited to: changes in national and local economic and business conditions and other factors such as natural disasters, pandemics and weather that will affect occupancy rates at our hotels and the demand for hotel products and services; the impact of geopolitical developments outside the U.S. on lodging demand; volatility in global financial and credit markets; operating risks associated with the hotel business; risks and limitations in our operating flexibility associated with the level of our indebtedness and our ability to meet covenants in our debt agreements; risks associated with our relationships with property managers and joint venture partners; our ability to maintain our properties in a first-class manner, including meeting capital expenditure requirements; the effects of hotel renovations on our hotel occupancy and financial results; our ability to compete effectively in areas such as access, location, quality of accommodations and room rate structures; risks associated with our ability to complete acquisitions and dispositions and develop new properties and the risks that acquisitions and new developments may not perform in accordance with our expectations; our ability to continue to satisfy complex rules in order for us to remain a REIT for federal income tax purposes; risks associated with our ability to effectuate our dividend policy, including factors such as operating results and the economic outlook influencing our board's decision whether to pay further dividends at levels previously disclosed or to use available cash to make special dividends; and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business described in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information in this release is as of April 30, 2015, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company's expectations.

*       This press release contains registered trademarks that are the exclusive property of their respective owners. None of the owners of these trademarks has any responsibility or liability for any information contained in this press release.

*** Tables to Follow ***

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc., herein referred to as "we" or "Host Inc.," is a self-managed and self-administered real estate investment trust ("REIT") that owns hotel properties. We conduct our operations as an umbrella partnership REIT through an operating partnership, Host Hotels & Resorts, L.P. ("Host LP"), of which we are the sole general partner. When distinguishing between Host Inc. and Host LP, the primary difference is approximately 1% of the partnership interests in Host LP held by outside partners as of March 31, 2015, which is non-controlling interests in Host LP in our consolidated balance sheets and is included in net income attributable to non-controlling interests in our consolidated statements of operations. Readers are encouraged to find further detail regarding our organizational structure in our annual report on Form 10-K.

                              

  

HOST HOTELS & RESORTS, INC.
Notes to Financial Information

Forecasts   

Our forecast of earnings per diluted share, NAREIT and Adjusted FFO per diluted share, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and comparable hotel EBITDA margins are forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forecasts. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forecasts are based upon reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that the results will not be materially different. Risks that may affect these assumptions and forecasts include the following: potential changes in overall economic outlook make it inherently difficult to forecast the level of RevPAR and margin growth; the amount and timing of acquisitions and dispositions of hotel properties is an estimate that can substantially affect financial results, including such items as net income, depreciation and gains on dispositions; the level of capital expenditures may change significantly, which will directly affect the level of depreciation expense and net income; the amount and timing of debt payments may change significantly based on market conditions, which will directly affect the level of interest expense and net income; the amount and timing of transactions involving shares of our common stock may change based on market conditions; and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business described herein and in our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC.

Comparable Hotel Operating Statistics

To facilitate a quarter-to-quarter comparison of our operations, we present certain operating statistics (i.e., RevPAR, average daily rate and average occupancy) and operating results (revenues, expenses, hotel EBITDA and associated margins) for the periods included in this report on a comparable hotel basis.

Because these statistics and operating results relate only to our hotel properties, they exclude results for our non-hotel properties and other real estate investments. We define our comparable hotels as properties:

(i) that are owned or leased by us and the operations of which are included in our consolidated results for the entirety of the reporting periods being compared; and

(ii) that have not sustained substantial property damage or business interruption, or undergone large-scale capital projects (as further defined below) during the reporting periods being compared.

The hotel business is capital-intensive and renovations are a regular part of the business. Generally, hotels under renovation remain comparable hotels. A large scale capital project that would cause a hotel to be excluded from our comparable hotel set is an extensive renovation of several core aspects of the hotel, such as rooms, meeting space, lobby, bars, restaurants and other public spaces. Both quantitative and qualitative factors are taken into consideration in determining if the renovation would cause a hotel to be removed from the comparable hotel set, including unusual or exceptional circumstances such as: a reduction or increase in room count, rebranding, a significant alteration of the business operations, or the closing of the hotel during the renovation.

We do not include an acquired hotel in our comparable hotel set until the operating results for that hotel have been included in our consolidated results for one full calendar year. For example, we acquired the YVE Miami Hotel in August of 2014. The hotel will not be included in our comparable hotels until January 1, 2016. Hotels that we sell are excluded from the comparable hotel set once the transaction has closed. Similarly, hotels are excluded from our comparable hotel set from the date that they sustain substantial property damage or business interruption or commence a large-scale capital project. In each case, these hotels are returned to the comparable hotel set when the operations of the hotel have been included in our consolidated results for one full calendar year after completion of the repair of the property damage or cessation of the business interruption, or the completion of large-scale capital projects, as applicable.

Of the 113 hotels that we owned on March 31, 2015, 106 have been classified as comparable hotels. The operating results of the following hotels that we owned as of March 31, 2015 are excluded from comparable hotel results for these periods:

Renovations/pro forma acquisitions: Hotels undergoing large-scale capital projects, as well as new acquisitions where comparable historical information for periods prior to our ownership is available:

• Four Seasons Philadelphia, removed in the first quarter of 2015 (business interruption due to rebranding, including a reduction in available rooms, partial closure of the only food and beverage outlet and reduced staffing resulting in a reduction in certain rooms and other lodging services);
• Houston Airport Marriott at George Bush Intercontinental, removed in the first quarter of 2015 (business interruption due to complete repositioning of the hotel, including guest room renovations and the closing of two restaurants to create a new food and beverage outlet and lobby experience);
• Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, removed in the first quarter of 2015 (business interruption due to the demolition of the existing conference center and new exhibit hall);
• YVE Hotel Miami (acquired as the b2 miami downtown hotel in August 2014); and
• Axiom Hotel (acquired as the Powell Hotel in January 2014).

Development: Hotels that were under development:

• Novotel Rio de Janeiro Parque Olimpico (opened in the fourth quarter of 2014); and
• ibis Rio de Janeiro Parque Olimpico (opened in the fourth quarter of 2014).

The operating results of six hotels disposed of in 2015 and 2014 are not included in comparable hotel results for the periods presented herein. These operations are also excluded from the hotel operating data for all owned hotels on pages 9 and 10.

Operating statistics for the non-comparable hotels listed above are included in the hotel operating data for all owned hotels. By definition, the RevPAR results for these properties are not comparable due to the reasons listed above, and, therefore, are not indicative of the overall trends for our portfolio. The operating results for the YVE Hotel Miami acquired in 2014 is included in the all owned hotel operating data on a pro forma basis, which includes operating results assuming it was owned as of January 1, 2014 and based on actual results obtained from the managers for periods prior to our ownership. For this hotel, since the year-over-year comparison includes periods prior to our ownership, the changes will not necessarily correspond to changes in our actual results. All owned hotel operating statistics are provided for completeness and to show the difference between our comparable hotel information (upon which we usually evaluate performance) and all of our hotels, including non-comparable hotels. Also, while they may not be illustrative of trends (as compared to comparable hotel operating statistics), changes in all owned hotel statistics will have an effect on our overall revenues. We also present all owned hotel statistics for our joint venture in Europe using the same methodology as our consolidated hotels.

We evaluate the operating performance of our comparable hotels based on both market and property type. These divisions are generally consistent with groupings recognized in the lodging industry.

Our markets consist of the following:

Domestic

• Boston – Greater Boston Metropolitan area;
• New York – Greater New York Metropolitan area, including northern New Jersey;
• Washington, D.C. – Metropolitan area, including the Maryland and Virginia suburbs;
• Atlanta – Atlanta Metropolitan area;
• Florida – All Florida locations;
• Chicago – Chicago Metropolitan area;
• Denver – Denver Metropolitan area;
• Houston – Houston Metropolitan area;
• Phoenix – Phoenix Metropolitan area, including Scottsdale;
• Seattle – Seattle Metropolitan area;
• San Francisco – Greater San Francisco Metropolitan area, including San Jose;
• Los Angeles – Greater Los Angeles area, including Orange County;
• San Diego – San Diego Metropolitan area;
• Hawaii – All Hawaii locations; and
• Other – Select cities in California, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.

International

• Asia-Pacific – Australia and New Zealand;
• Canada – Toronto and Calgary; and
• Latin America – Brazil, Chile and Mexico.

Our property types consist of the following:

• Urban – Hotels located in primary business districts of major cities;
• Suburban – Hotels located in office parks or smaller secondary markets;
• Resort – Hotels located in resort destinations such as Arizona, Florida, Hawaii and Southern California; and
• Airport – Hotels located at or near airports.

Constant US$, Nominal US$ and Constant Euros

Operating results denominated in foreign currencies are translated using the prevailing exchange rates on the date of the transaction, or monthly based on the weighted average exchange rate for the period. For comparative purposes, we also present the RevPAR results for the prior year assuming the results for our foreign operations were translated using the same exchange rates that were effective for the comparable periods in the current year, thereby eliminating the effect of currency fluctuation for the year-over-year comparisons. For the full year forecast results, we use the applicable forward currency curve (as published by Bloomberg L.P.) for each monthly period to estimate forecast foreign operations in U.S. dollars and have restated the prior year RevPAR results using the same forecast exchange rates to estimate year-over-year growth in RevPAR in constant US$. We believe this presentation is useful to investors as it shows growth in RevPAR in the local currency of the hotel consistent with how we would evaluate our domestic portfolio. However, the estimated effect of changes in foreign currency has been reflected in the actual and forecast results of net income, EBITDA, earnings per diluted share and Adjusted FFO per diluted share. Nominal US$ results include the effect of currency fluctuations, consistent with our financial statement presentation.

We also present RevPAR results for our joint venture in Europe in constant Euros using the same methodology as used for the constant US$ presentation.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Included in this press release are certain "non-GAAP financial measures," which are measures of our historical or future financial performance that are not calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, within the meaning of applicable SEC rules. They are as follows: (i) FFO and FFO per diluted share (both NAREIT and Adjusted), (ii) EBITDA, (iii) Adjusted EBITDA and (iv) Comparable Hotel Property Level Operating Results. The following discussion defines these measures and presents why we believe they are useful supplemental measures of our performance.

NAREIT FFO and NAREIT FFO per Diluted Share

We present NAREIT FFO and NAREIT FFO per diluted share as non-GAAP measures of our performance in addition to our earnings per share (calculated in accordance with GAAP). We calculate NAREIT FFO per diluted share as our NAREIT FFO (defined as set forth below) for a given operating period, as adjusted for the effect of dilutive securities, divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during such period, in accordance with NAREIT guidelines. NAREIT defines FFO as net income (calculated in accordance with GAAP) excluding gains and losses from sales of real estate, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, real estate-related depreciation, amortization and impairments and adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures are calculated to reflect our pro rata share of the FFO of those entities on the same basis.

We believe that NAREIT FFO per diluted share is a useful supplemental measure of our operating performance and that the presentation of NAREIT FFO per diluted share, when combined with the primary GAAP presentation of earnings per share, provides beneficial information to investors. By excluding the effect of real estate depreciation, amortization, impairments and gains and losses from sales of depreciable real estate, all of which are based on historical cost accounting and which may be of lesser significance in evaluating current performance, we believe that such measures can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and with other REITs, even though NAREIT FFO per diluted share does not represent an amount that accrues directly to holders of our common stock. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. As noted by NAREIT in its April 2002 "White Paper on Funds From Operations," since real estate values have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry investors have considered presentation of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. For these reasons, NAREIT adopted the FFO metric in order to promote an industry-wide measure of REIT operating performance.

Adjusted FFO per Diluted Share

We also present Adjusted FFO per diluted share when evaluating our performance because management believes that the exclusion of certain additional items described below provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance. Management historically has made the adjustments detailed below in evaluating our performance, in our annual budget process and for our compensation programs. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted FFO per diluted share, when combined with both the primary GAAP presentation of earnings per share and FFO per diluted share as defined by NAREIT, provides useful supplemental information that is beneficial to an investor's complete understanding of our operating performance. We adjust NAREIT FFO per diluted share for the following items, which may occur in any period, and refer to this measure as Adjusted FFO per diluted share:

• Gains and Losses on the Extinguishment of Debt – We exclude the effect of finance charges and premiums associated with the extinguishment of debt, including the acceleration of the write-off of deferred financing costs associated with the original issuance of the debt being redeemed or retired and incremental interest expense incurred during the refinancing period. We also exclude the gains on debt repurchases and the original issuance costs associated with the retirement of preferred stock. We believe that these items are not reflective of our ongoing finance costs.
• Acquisition Costs – Under GAAP, costs associated with completed property acquisitions are expensed in the year incurred. We exclude the effect of these costs because we believe they are not reflective of the ongoing performance of the Company.
• Litigation Gains and Losses – We exclude the effect of gains or losses associated with litigation recorded under GAAP that we consider outside the ordinary course of business. We believe that including these items is not consistent with our ongoing operating performance.

In unusual circumstances, we may also adjust NAREIT FFO for gains or losses that management believes are not representative of the Company's current operating performance. For example, in the first quarter of 2013, management excluded the $11 million gain from the eminent domain claim for land adjacent to the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center for which we received the cash proceeds in 2007, but, pending the resolution of certain contingencies, was not recognized until 2013. Typically, gains from the disposition of non-depreciable property are included in the determination of NAREIT and Adjusted FFO.

EBITDA

Earnings before Interest Expense, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization ("EBITDA") is a commonly used measure of performance in many industries. Management believes EBITDA provides useful information to investors regarding our results of operations because it helps us and our investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of our properties after removing the impact of the Company's capital structure (primarily interest expense) and its asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization). Management also believes the use of EBITDA facilitates comparisons between us and other lodging REITs, hotel owners who are not REITs and other capital-intensive companies. Management uses EBITDA to evaluate property-level results and as one measure in determining the value of acquisitions and dispositions and, like FFO and Adjusted FFO per diluted share, is widely used by management in the annual budget process and for our compensation programs.

Adjusted EBITDA

Historically, management has adjusted EBITDA when evaluating the performance of Host Inc. and Host LP because we believe that the exclusion of certain additional items described below provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance and that the presentation of Adjusted EBITDA, when combined with the primary GAAP presentation of net income, is beneficial to an investor's complete understanding of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA also is a relevant measure in calculating certain credit ratios. We adjust EBITDA for the following items, which may occur in any period, and refer to this measure as Adjusted EBITDA:

• Real Estate Transactions – We exclude the effect of gains and losses, including the amortization of deferred gains, recorded on the disposition or acquisition of depreciable assets and property insurance gains in our consolidated statement of operations because we believe that including them in Adjusted EBITDA is not consistent with reflecting the ongoing performance of our assets. In addition, material gains or losses from the depreciated book value of the disposed assets could be less important to investors given that the depreciated asset book value often does not reflect the market value of real estate assets as noted above.
• Equity Investment Adjustments – We exclude the equity in earnings (losses) of affiliates as presented in our consolidated statement of operations because it includes our pro rata portion of the depreciation, amortization and interest expense related to such investments, which are excluded from EBITDA. We include our pro rata share of the Adjusted EBITDA of our equity investments as we believe this reflects more accurately the performance of our investments. The pro rata Adjusted EBITDA of equity investments is defined as the EBITDA of our equity investments adjusted for any gains or losses on property transactions multiplied by our percentage ownership in the partnership or joint venture.
• Consolidated Partnership Adjustments – We deduct the non-controlling partners' pro rata share of Adjusted EBITDA of our consolidated partnerships as this reflects the non-controlling owners' interest in the EBITDA of our consolidated partnerships. The pro rata Adjusted EBITDA of non-controlling partners is defined as the EBITDA of our consolidated partnerships adjusted for any gains or losses on property transactions multiplied by the non-controlling partners' percentage ownership in the partnership or joint venture.
• Cumulative Effect of a Change in Accounting Principle – Infrequently, the Financial Accounting Standards Board promulgates new accounting standards that require the consolidated statement of operations to reflect the cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle. We exclude these one-time adjustments because they do not reflect our actual performance for that period.
• Impairment Losses – We exclude the effect of impairment expense recorded because we believe that including them in Adjusted EBITDA is not consistent with reflecting the ongoing performance of our remaining assets. In addition, we believe that impairment expense, which is based on historical cost book values, is similar to gains and losses on dispositions and depreciation expense, both of which are excluded from EBITDA.
• Acquisition Costs – Under GAAP, costs associated with completed property acquisitions are expensed in the year incurred. We exclude the effect of these costs because we believe they are not reflective of the ongoing performance of the company.
• Litigation Gains and Losses – We exclude the effect of gains or losses associated with litigation recorded under GAAP that we consider outside the ordinary course of business, which is consistent with the definition of Adjusted FFO that we adopted effective January 1, 2011. We believe that including these items is not consistent with our ongoing operating performance.

In unusual circumstances, we may also adjust EBITDA for gains or losses that management believes are not representative of the Company's current operating performance. For example, in the first quarter of 2013, management excluded the $11 million gain from the eminent domain claim for land adjacent to the Atlanta Marriott Perimeter Center for which we received the cash proceeds in 2007, but, pending the resolution of certain contingencies, was not recognized until 2013. Typically, gains from the disposition of non-depreciable property are included in the determination of Adjusted EBITDA.

Limitations on the Use of NAREIT FFO per Diluted Share, Adjusted FFO per Diluted Share, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

We calculate NAREIT FFO per diluted share in accordance with standards established by NAREIT, which may not be comparable to measures calculated by other companies who do not use the NAREIT definition of FFO or do not calculate FFO per diluted share in accordance with NAREIT guidance. In addition, although FFO per diluted share is a useful measure when comparing our results to other REITs, it may not be helpful to investors when comparing us to non-REITs. We also calculate Adjusted FFO per diluted share, which is not in accordance with NAREIT guidance and may not be comparable to measures calculated by other REITs. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, as presented, may also not be comparable to measures calculated by other companies. This information should not be considered as an alternative to net income, operating profit, cash from operations or any other operating performance measure calculated in accordance with GAAP. Cash expenditures for various long-term assets (such as renewal and replacement capital expenditures), interest expense (for EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA purposes only) and other items have been and will be made and are not reflected in the EBITDA Adjusted EBITDA, NAREIT FFO per diluted share and Adjusted FFO per diluted share presentations. Management compensates for these limitations by separately considering the impact of these excluded items to the extent they are material to operating decisions or assessments of our operating performance. Our consolidated statement of operations and cash flows include interest expense, capital expenditures, and other excluded items, all of which should be considered when evaluating our performance, as well as the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, NAREIT FFO per diluted share, Adjusted FFO per diluted share, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as a measure of our liquidity or indicative of funds available to fund our cash needs, including our ability to make cash distributions. In addition, NAREIT FFO per diluted share and Adjusted FFO per diluted share do not measure, and should not be used as a measure of, amounts that accrue directly to stockholders' benefit.

Comparable Hotel Property Level Operating Results

We present certain operating results for our hotels, such as hotel revenues, expenses, EBITDA (and the related margin) and food and beverage adjusted profit (and the related margin), on a comparable hotel, or "same store," basis as supplemental information for investors. Our comparable hotel results present operating results for hotels owned during the entirety of the periods being compared without giving effect to any acquisitions or dispositions, significant property damage or large scale capital improvements incurred during these periods. We present comparable hotel EBITDA to help us and our investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of our comparable properties after removing the impact of the Company's capital structure (primarily interest expense), and its asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization). Corporate-level costs and expenses are also removed to arrive at property-level results.  We believe these property-level results provide investors with supplemental information into the ongoing operating performance of our comparable hotels. Comparable hotel results are presented both by region and for the Company's comparable properties in the aggregate. We eliminate depreciation and amortization because, even though depreciation and amortization are property-level expenses, these non-cash expenses, which are based on historical cost accounting for real estate assets, implicitly assume that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. As noted earlier, because real estate values have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, many real estate industry investors have considered presentation of historical cost accounting for operating results to be insufficient by themselves.

As a result of the elimination of corporate-level costs and expenses and depreciation and amortization, the comparable hotel operating results we present do not represent our total revenues, expenses, operating profit or net income and should not be used to evaluate our performance as a whole. Management compensates for these limitations by separately considering the impact of these excluded items to the extent they are material to operating decisions or assessments of our operating performance. Our consolidated statements of operations include such amounts, all of which should be considered by investors when evaluating our performance.

We present these hotel operating results on a comparable hotel basis because we believe that doing so provides investors and management with useful information for evaluating the period-to-period performance of our hotels and facilitates comparisons with other hotel REITs and hotel owners. In particular, these measures assist management and investors in distinguishing whether increases or decreases in revenues and/or expenses are due to growth or decline of operations at comparable hotels (which represent the vast majority of our portfolio) or from other factors, such as the effect of acquisitions or dispositions. While management believes that presentation of comparable hotel results is a "same store" supplemental measure that provides useful information in evaluating our ongoing performance, this measure is not used to allocate resources or to assess the operating performance of each of these hotels, as these decisions are based on data for individual hotels and are not based on comparable hotel results. For these reasons, we believe that comparable hotel operating results, when combined with the presentation of GAAP operating profit, revenues and expenses, provide useful information to investors and management.

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SOURCE Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

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