Marriott International Reports First Quarter Earnings

Adjusted results for the 2009 first quarter exclude $129 million pretax ($84 million after-tax and $0.24 per diluted share) of restructuring costs and other charges and $26 million of non-cash charges ($0.07 per diluted share) in the provision for income taxes.

J.W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International, said, “In the first quarter we welcomed increasing numbers of business guests to our hotels as travelers got back to work in most markets around the world.  Corporate roomnights for the Marriott Hotels & Resort brand in North America rose 16 percent in the first quarter as business demand strengthened dramatically.  At the same time, leisure demand remained solid as vacationers continued to find memorable holiday experiences and good values.  While first quarter room rates were generally lower than last year, as occupancy levels continue to improve, we see higher room rates on the horizon.  In fact, we anticipate that North American systemwide REVPAR will increase by 3 to 6 percent for the full year 2010 with higher room rates by year end.  International demand trends are even stronger.  We expect REVPAR outside North America will increase 4 to 7 percent on a constant dollar basis in 2010 reflecting strong demand in Europe, South America and Asia.
Over 8,000 new rooms joined our system during the first quarter including the JW Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE, the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio (pictured above), and the Shanghai Marriott Hotel Changfeng Park, our 47th hotel in China.  We also launched our newest brand, The Autograph Collection, with two new properties, Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine Florida and the Grand Bohemian Hotel in Asheville, North Carolina.
With stronger demand and meaningful unit growth, fee revenue and earnings per share exceeded our expectations.  2010 is shaping up to be a good year.”
REVPAR for the company’s worldwide comparable company-operated properties was flat (a 1.0 percent decline using constant dollars) in the 2010 first quarter and REVPAR for the company’s worldwide comparable systemwide properties declined 0.7 percent (a 1.3 percent decline using constant dollars).
International comparable company-operated REVPAR rose 5.8 percent (a 1.5 percent increase using constant dollars), including a 4.5 percent decline in average daily rate (a 8.3 percent decline using constant dollars) in the first quarter of 2010.
In North America, comparable company-operated REVPAR declined 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010.  REVPAR at the company’s comparable company-operated North American full-service and luxury hotels (including Marriott Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton and Renaissance Hotels) was down 1.2 percent with a 7.8 percent decline in average daily rate.
Marriott added 44 new properties (8,361 rooms) to its worldwide lodging portfolio in the 2010 first quarter and seven properties (1,146 rooms) exited the system during the quarter.  At quarter-end, the company’s lodging group encompassed 3,457 properties and timeshare resorts for a total of over 603,000 rooms.
The company’s worldwide pipeline of hotels under construction, awaiting conversion or approved for development totaled over 95,000 rooms in more than 600 hotels at quarter-end.
MARRIOTT REVENUES totaled over $2.6 billion in the 2010 first quarter compared to approximately $2.5 billion for the first quarter of 2009.  Base management and franchise fees rose 1 percent to $216 million reflecting fees from new hotels offset by slightly lower REVPAR.  First quarter incentive management fees declined 7 percent to $40 million.  In the first quarter, 23 percent of company-managed hotels earned incentive management fees compared to 25 percent in the year-ago quarter.  Approximately 60 percent of incentive management fees came from hotels outside North America in the 2010 quarter compared to 54 percent in the 2009 quarter.
Worldwide comparable company-operated house profit margins declined 110 basis points in the first quarter reflecting increasing occupancy and declining rate partially offset by efficiency improvements at the property level.  House profit margins for comparable company-operated properties outside North America increased 40 basis points and North American comparable company-operated house profit margins declined 180 basis points from the year-ago quarter.
Owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue, net of direct expenses, declined $1 million in the 2010 first quarter, to $12 million, primarily reflecting the impact of lower operating results in owned and leased hotels partially offset by $4 million of termination fees.
First quarter adjusted Timeshare segment contract sales increased 10 percent to $172 million excluding an $8 million allowance for fractional and residential contract cancellations recorded in the quarter.  In the prior year’s quarter, adjusted Timeshare segment contract sales totaled $157 million excluding a $28 million allowance for contract cancellations.
In the first quarter, timeshare sales and services revenue totaled $285 million and, net of expenses, totaled $50 million for the quarter.  Adjusting for restructuring and other charges, as well as the impact of consolidation of securitized loans as if such consolidation had occurred at the beginning of 2009, first quarter 2009 timeshare sales and services revenue would have totaled $254 million and, net of direct expenses, would have totaled $25 million.  These adjustments for the 2009 quarter are shown on page A-14.
 
Timeshare development revenue, net of expense, benefited from stronger demand, higher closing efficiency, favorable reportability and lower marketing and sales costs.
Timeshare segment results include Timeshare sales and services revenue, net of direct expenses, as well as base management fees, equity earnings (losses), noncontrolling interest, interest expense and general, administrative and other expenses associated with the timeshare business.  Timeshare segment results for the 2010 first quarter, shown on page A-6, totaled $25 million, including $14 million of interest expense related to the consolidation of securitized Timeshare notes.  On February 11, 2010, the company provided Timeshare segment guidance of $30 million to $40 million, excluding interest expense associated with securitized Timeshare notes.
GENERAL, ADMINISTRATIVE and OTHER expenses for the 2010 first quarter increased 1 percent to $138 million, compared to adjusted expenses of $136 million in the year-ago quarter.  The 2010 first quarter benefited from $6 million in guarantee reserve reversals and $4 million of lower receivable reserves partially offset by higher legal expenses of $3 million.  The 2009 first quarter benefited from $8 million of incentive compensation and other accrual reversals and a $5 million favorable impact associated with deferred compensation.
GAINS AND OTHER INCOME totaled $1 million primarily reflecting gains on the sale of real estate.  The prior year’s first quarter gains and other income totaled $25 million and included a $21 million gain on the extinguishment of debt, $3 million of gains on the sale of real estate and other income and $1 million of preferred returns from joint venture investments.
INTEREST EXPENSE increased $16 million to $45 million in the first quarter primarily due to $14 million of interest expense related to the consolidation of debt associated with securitized Timeshare notes, lower capitalized interest and interest associated with deferred compensation partially offset by lower debt balances and interest rates.  Adjusting for the impact of consolidation of securitized loans as if such consolidation had occurred at the beginning of 2009, first quarter 2009 interest expense would have totaled $45 million, flat with 2010 first quarter interest expense.
EQUITY IN (LOSSES) EARNINGS totaled an $11 million loss in the quarter compared to a $3 million adjusted loss in the year-ago quarter.  The $8 million decline primarily reflected a $4 million increase in cancellation reserves at one Timeshare joint venture and impairment charges of $3 million associated with two investments.
Earnings before Interest Expense, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA)
EBITDA totaled $221 million in the 2010 first quarter.  In the 2009 first quarter, adjusted EBITDA totaled $215 million.  If the consolidation of securitized timeshare notes had occurred at the beginning of 2009, adjusted EBITDA in 2009 would have totaled $235 million.
BALANCE SHEET
At the end of the first quarter 2010, total debt was $3,269 million and cash balances totaled $118 million, compared to $2,298 million in debt and $115 million of cash at year-end 2009.  The increase in debt included $1,043 million of debt associated with securitized Timeshare mortgage notes now required to be consolidated, as noted below.  At the end of the first quarter 2010, Marriott had borrowings of $396 million outstanding under its $2.4 billion bank revolver.
COMMON STOCK
Weighted average fully diluted shares outstanding used to calculate diluted EPS totaled 373.3 million in the 2010 first quarter compared to weighted average fully diluted shares outstanding of 360.5 million used to calculate adjusted diluted EPS in the year-ago quarter.
The remaining share repurchase authorization, as of March 26, 2010, totaled 21.3 million shares.  No share repurchases are planned for 2010.
IMPACT OF ACCOUNTING CHANGES
The company adopted ASU Nos. 2009-16 and 2009-17 (formerly referred to as FAS 166 and 167) at the beginning of 2010, which required consolidation of entities associated with securitized Timeshare notes and impacts the ongoing accounting for those notes.  With the consolidation of the existing portfolio of securitized loans on the first day of fiscal 2010, assets increased by $970 million, liabilities increased by $1,116 million, and shareholders’ equity decreased by $146 million.  No change in net cash flow is anticipated as a result of the accounting changes.  If the consolidation had occurred at the beginning of 2009, first quarter 2009 adjusted revenue would have increased to $2,540 million, first quarter 2009 adjusted EBITDA would have increased to $235 million, first quarter 2009 interest expense would have increased to $45 million and first quarter 2009 adjusted pretax income would have increased to $141 million.  See the tables on pages A-14, A-15, A-16, A-17 and A-18 of the accompanying schedules for 2009 quarterly and full year Timeshare segment results adjusted as if the accounting changes had been made on the first day of fiscal 2009.
SECOND QUARTER 2010 OUTLOOK
For the second quarter, the company assumes comparable systemwide REVPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 4 to 6 percent in North America, 8 to 10 percent outside North America and 5 to 7 percent worldwide.
In the 2010 second quarter, the company assumes Timeshare contract sales will total $175 million to $185 million and Timeshare sales and services revenue, net of direct expenses, will total approximately $40 million to $45 million.  With these assumptions, Timeshare segment results for the second quarter, including interest expense associated with securitized notes, are expected to total $20 million to $25 million.
FULL YEAR 2010 OUTLOOK
For the full year 2010, the company assumes comparable systemwide REVPAR on a constant dollar basis will increase 3 to 6 percent in North America, 4 to 7 percent outside North America and 3 to 6 percent worldwide.
The company expects to open 25,000 to 30,000 rooms in 2010 as most hotels expected to open are already under construction or undergoing conversion from other brands.
The company continues to estimate that, on a full-year basis, one point of worldwide systemwide REVPAR impacts total fees by approximately $10 million to $15 million pretax and owned, leased, corporate housing and other revenue, net of direct expense, by roughly $4 million pretax.
For its timeshare business, the company assumes 2010 timeshare contract sales will be slightly higher than 2009 levels.  For 2010, Timeshare sales and services revenue, net of direct expenses, is expected to total $185 million to $195 million.  Timeshare segment results for 2010, including interest expense associated with previously securitized notes, is expected to total $95 million to $105 million.
The company expects its 2010 general, administrative and other expenses to total $650 million to $660 million reflecting higher incentive compensation.
¹ Net of interest income
Based upon the assumptions above, full year 2010 EBITDA is expected to total $985 million to $1,040 million.  Assuming the investment spending levels below, adjusted total debt is expected to decline $400 million to $500 million by year end 2010.
The company expects investment spending in 2010 will total approximately $500 million, including capital expenditures totaling $150 million to $200 million, of which maintenance capital spending is expected to total $50 million.  Investment spending will also include new mezzanine financing and mortgage loans, contract acquisition costs, and equity and other investments.  The investment in net timeshare development is not included above as the company expects cost of goods sold in the timeshare business will exceed timeshare inventory spending in 2010.
Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) will conduct its quarterly earnings review for the investment community and news media on Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time (ET).  The conference call will be webcast simultaneously via Marriott’s investor relations website at http://www.marriott.com/investor, click the “Recent and Upcoming Events” tab and click on the quarterly conference call link.  A replay will be available at that same website until April 22, 2011.
The telephone dial-in number for the conference call is 719-325-2122.  A telephone replay of the conference call will be available from 1 p.m. ET, Thursday, April 22, 2010 until 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, April 29, 2010.  To access the replay, call 719-457-0820.  The reservation number for the recording is 7418222.
Definitions
All references to net income or net loss, unless otherwise noted, reflect net income or net loss attributable to Marriott.  All references to EPS or diluted losses per share, unless otherwise noted, reflect EPS or diluted losses per share attributable to Marriott shareholders.
Note:  This press release and accompanying schedules contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of federal securities laws, including REVPAR, profit margin and earnings trends, estimates and assumptions; statements concerning the number of lodging properties we expect to add in the future; our expected cost savings, investment spending and share repurchases; and similar statements concerning anticipated future events and expectations that are not historical facts.  We caution you that these statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including the continuation and pace of the economic recovery; supply and demand changes for hotel rooms, vacation ownership, condominiums, and corporate housing; competitive conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with clients and property owners; the availability of capital to finance hotel growth and refurbishment; and other risk factors identified in our most recent annual or quarterly report on Form 10-K or Form 10-Q; any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the statements herein.  These statements are made as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.