La Quinta Holdings Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2016 Results

IRVING, Texas, Nov. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- La Quinta Holdings Inc. ("La Quinta" or the "Company") (NYSE: LQ) today reported its third quarter 2016 results, for the period ending September 30, 2016.

Third Quarter 2016 Highlights

• Net Income per Share was $0.20; Adjusted Earnings per Share was $0.19
• Net Income was $22.7 million; Adjusted Net Income was $22.1 million
• Cash flow generation remained strong, as demonstrated by $100.7 million of Total Adjusted EBITDA
• Grew franchise and other fee based revenue 5.3 percent
• System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 0.8 percent, and excluding properties located in STR-defined "oil tracts", RevPAR increased 2.0 percent
• Opened 15 franchised hotels, excluding six temporary hotels, totaling approximately 1,300 rooms, including the Company's first location in Colombia, South America
• Increased franchise pipeline to 239 hotels, representing approximately 21,800 additional rooms, including a new franchise agreement in San Diego's Gaslamp District
• La Quinta Returns® ranked in the top 5 by U.S. News and World Report as a Best Travel Rewards program in U.S. News's Best Travel Rewards 2016-17 rankings

Overview

Keith A. Cline, President & Chief Executive Officer of La Quinta, said, "We continued to make meaningful progress against the Company's strategic initiatives to drive consistency in our product and in the delivery of an outstanding guest experience, as well as to drive increased engagement with our brand. We saw positive comparable RevPAR growth and a significant improvement in Net Promoter Score this quarter, reflecting our investment in the guest experience.  On the development front, we continued to grow our current and future footprint by opening 15 new hotels, including La Quinta's first location in Colombia, South America, and by signing 21 new franchise agreements bringing our total pipeline to 239 hotels."

Mr. Cline continued, "System-wide comparable RevPAR grew 80 basis points and RevPAR index grew 18 basis points when compared to the same period last year. We also experienced high single digit RevPAR growth in several key markets. As we noted last quarter, the impact of the pullback in oil production has moderated in terms of year-over-year RevPAR comparisons, and our hotels in the oil markets continued to improve their overall market share. Our third quarter system-wide comparable RevPAR would have been up 2.0 percent as compared to last year, if we exclude the impact of the oil markets. We are proud of La Quinta's performance this quarter and remain confident that the strategic priorities and initiatives we are executing will drive brand performance as well as continued strong cash flow generation and long-term shareholder value."

The Company's system-wide portfolio, as of September 30, 2016, is located across 48 states in the U.S., as well as in Canada, Mexico, Honduras and Colombia. The portfolio includes:

The results of operations for the Company for the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 include the following highlights ⁽¹⁾ ($ in thousands, except per share amounts):

Development

During the third quarter, the Company opened a total of 21 franchised hotels (2,000 rooms), including six temporary franchised hotels related to formerly owned hotels which are in the process of leaving the system.  These 21 openings, together with seven terminations, led us to a net growth of 14 franchised hotels. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a pipeline of 239 franchised hotels totaling approximately 21,800 rooms, to be located in the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Chile, and El Salvador. The Company believes this pipeline represents a significant embedded growth opportunity for the brand.

Owned Hotel Portfolio

During the third quarter of 2015, the Company entered into a definitive purchase and sale agreement for the sale of 24 of its owned hotels. Of these 24 hotels, 21 had closed as of the end of the third quarter of 2016, and the remaining three hotels closing after the end of the third quarter.  During the third quarter of 2016, the Company closed the sale of additional owned hotels located in Charleston, South Carolina, Georgetown, Texas, and Houston, Texas and entered into definitive purchase and sale agreements for the sale of five additional owned hotels located in Wayne, New Jersey, Elmsford, New York, Daytona Beach, Florida, Sulphur, Louisiana, and in The Woodlands-Houston, Texas.

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

As of September 30, 2016, the Company had approximately $1.7 billion of outstanding indebtedness with a weighted average interest rate of approximately 4.3%, including the impact of an interest rate swap.  Total cash and cash equivalents was $148.2 million as of September 30, 2016.

Outlook

Based upon management's current estimates, the Company is revising its guidance for full year 2016. This revision reflects the Company's third quarter performance and adjusted expectations for the remainder of the year, as well as the impact of changes in the timing of owned assets leaving the system.

Please see the schedules to this press release for a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Adjusted Net Income Attributable to La Quinta Holdings' stockholders.  A reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the closest GAAP financial measure is not available without unreasonable efforts on a forward-looking basis due to the high variability, complexity and low visibility with respect to impairment charges, gains or losses on sales of assets, and secondary offering expenses excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures.  These items could have a potentially unpredictable, and potentially significant, impact on our future GAAP financial results.

Webcast and Conference Call

La Quinta Holdings Inc. will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2016 results on Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Participants may listen to the live webcast by dialing (877) 407-3982, or (201) 493-6780 for international participants, or by logging onto the La Quinta Investor Relations website at www.lq.com/investorrelations. Participants are encouraged to dial into the call or link to the webcast at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start time.

A replay of the call will be available from approximately 8 p.m. Eastern Time on November 2, 2016 through midnight Eastern Time on November 9, 2016. To access the replay, the domestic dial-in number is (877) 870-5176, the international dial-in number is (858) 384-5517, and the passcode is 13646018. The archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website for a limited time.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act") and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, our financial results, our liquidity and capital resources, the outcome of our strategic initiatives and other non-historical statements, including the statements in the "Outlook" section of this press release. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described under the section entitled "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), as such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in our filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release including Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margins, Segment Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted Net Income and Adjusted Earnings Per Share. Please see the schedules to this press release for additional information and reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures.

About La Quinta Holdings Inc.

La Quinta Holdings Inc. (LQ) is a leading owner, operator and franchisor of select-service hotels primarily serving the upper-midscale and midscale segments. The Company's owned and franchised portfolio consists of more than 890 properties representing approximately 88,000 rooms located in 48 states in the U.S., and in Canada, Mexico, Honduras and Colombia. These properties operate under the La Quinta Inn & Suites™, La Quinta Inn™ and LQ Hotel™ brands. La Quinta's team is committed to providing guests with a refreshing and engaging experience. For more information, please visit: www.LQ.com.

From time to time, La Quinta may use its website as a distribution channel of material company information. Financial and other important information regarding the Company is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at www.lq.com/investorrelations. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about La Quinta when you enroll your email address by visiting the Email Notification section at www.lq.com/investorrelations.