Park Hotels & Resorts Completes the Sale of the Le Meridien San Francisco and Provides an Update on Operating Trends and Liquidity

TYSONS, Va., Sept. 07, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (“Park” or the “Company”) (NYSE:PK) today announced that it completed the previously announced sale of the Le Meridien San Francisco. The Company also provided an operational and liquidity update.

Recent Highlights

• Closed on the sale of the 360-room Le Meridien San Francisco on August 31, 2021, for total proceeds of $221.5 million, or approximately $615,000 per key. When adjusted for Park’s anticipated capital expenditures (“capex”), the sale price represents a 5.9% capitalization rate on 2019 net operating income (6.5% excluding capex), or 15.0x 2019 EBITDA (13.7x excluding capex). Proceeds from the sale were used to repay Park’s sole remaining term loan, leaving just $78 million outstanding;
• Pro-forma occupancy preliminarily estimated to be 49.9% in August 2021 for Park’s 48 consolidated hotels, with a decrease in rate and RevPAR of 5.8% and 45.0%, respectively, when compared to the same period in 2019;
• Pro-forma occupancy preliminarily estimated to be 56.4% for Park’s 45 consolidated hotels open during the entirety of August, with a decrease in rate and RevPAR of just 3.8% and 35.6%, respectively, when compared to the same period in 2019;
• Generated Pro-forma Hotel Revenues of $157 million and positive Pro-forma Hotel Adjusted EBITDA of $44 million in July 2021, with 36 of its 45 consolidated hotels that were open during July 2021 generating positive Pro-forma Hotel Adjusted EBITDA; and
• Despite witnessing exceptionally strong results during the summer, the Company now anticipates fundamentals to be weaker than expected through at least October as the spread of the Delta variant has tempered group and business transient demand across its portfolio.
  

“I am pleased to announce that our previously disclosed sale of the Le Meridien San Francisco is completed. Proceeds from the sale have been used to reduce debt and further strengthen our balance sheet. With nearly $1.8 billion in liquidity, Park is well positioned to pursue internal and external growth strategies as we enter the post COVID cycle,” said Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Park. “On the operations side, I am very pleased with the positive momentum in demand that we saw in July and August in several of our markets. Our portfolio witnessed very strong growth in occupancy and ADR in July, and demand trends continued into August, with two of our hotels surpassing August 2019 occupancy rates and 17 of our hotels surpassing August 2019 average daily rates. As expected, demand trends moderated somewhat in August based on seasonal declines in leisure travel as well as some disruption from the Delta variant. As case counts remain elevated, and some office reopenings are delayed, we expect business demand to remain choppy in the near term; however, we remain confident in the overall trajectory of the recovery, particularly as we look to strong fundamentals for 2022.”

Operational Update
Pro-forma Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR for certain periods in 2021 and changes compared to the same periods in 2019 for Park’s 48 consolidated hotels were as follows:

Pro-forma Occupancy, ADR and RevPAR for certain periods in 2021 and changes compared to the same periods in 2019 for only the consolidated hotels open during the entirety of each period were as follows:

The Company also witnessed improvements in mid-week occupancy (Tuesday and Wednesday), increasing to 52% in July on a Pro-forma basis, or nearly 2,000 basis points higher than the second quarter. Preliminary Pro-forma August mid-week occupancy softened somewhat to 47% with expected seasonality. Overall, these mid-week trends provide an encouraging indicator that travel continues to expand beyond leisure demand. In addition, Park continues to see increasing trends in group pickup for 2022 across its portfolio, with roughly $32 million in group revenue picked up year-to-date for next year.

COVID-19: Impact of Delta Variant
Despite witnessing exceptionally strong results in July and August, the Company now anticipates fundamentals to be softer than expected through at least October as the spread of the Delta variant has tempered demand. Markets meaningfully impacted include Hawaii, San Francisco and Orlando with most of the attrition related to group cancellations. Despite the near-term weakness, however, demand trends for November and December (55% of estimated Q4 EBITDA combined) remain steady, as group bookings and leisure demand continue to hold.

Hurricane Ida
The 1,622-room Hilton New Orleans Riverside hotel sustained minimal damage from Hurricane Ida and the category 4 storm’s impact and effects on the region. Minor physical damage included limited water intrusion and cosmetic exterior damage. The hotel is now operating with permanent power and water supply, and is currently accommodating emergency first responders, displaced residents and hotel staff. With respect to Park’s assets in the Northeast, there was no damage to any of its hotels in the New York or Boston metro areas as the remnants of Hurricane Ida moved across the region.

Liquidity Update
Following the sale of the Le Meridien San Francisco, the Company has just $78 million outstanding on its sole remaining corporate term loan. As of August 31, 2021, Park had estimated liquidity of approximately $1.8 billion, including estimated cash and cash equivalents of $769 million and $1.075 billion of available capacity remaining under the Company’s revolving credit facility.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains 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. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to Park’s current expectations regarding the performance of and impact to the Company’s business and financial conditions. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases, can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as the words “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “seeks,” “projects,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “hopes” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. You should not rely on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company’s control and which could materially affect its results of operations, financial condition, cash flows, performance or future achievements or events. Currently, one of the most significant factors continues to be the adverse effect of COVID-19, including possible resurgences, on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and performance, its hotel management companies and its hotels’ tenants, and the global economy and financial markets. COVID-19 has significantly affected the Company’s business, and the extent to which COVID-19 continues to affect the Company, its hotel managers, tenants and guests at the Company’s hotels will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the scope, severity and duration of the pandemic, the actions taken to contain the pandemic or mitigate its effect, the emergence of virus variants, the efficacy, availability and deployment of vaccinations and other treatments to combat COVID-19, including public adoption rates of COVID-19 vaccines, additional closures that may be mandated or advisable even after the reopening of certain of the Company’s hotels on a limited basis, whether due to an increased number of COVID-19 cases or otherwise, and the direct and indirect economic effects of the pandemic and containment measures, among others. Moreover, investors are cautioned to interpret many of the risks identified in the risk factors included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 as being heightened as a result of the ongoing and numerous adverse impacts of COVID-19.

Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and Park urges investors to carefully review the disclosures Park makes concerning risk and uncertainties in Item 1A: “Risk Factors” in Park’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, as such factors may be updated from time to time in Park’s filings with the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Except as required by law, Park undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Park Hotels & Resorts
Park is the second largest publicly traded lodging REIT with a diverse portfolio of market-leading hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. Park’s portfolio currently consists of 55 premium-branded hotels and resorts with over 32,000 rooms primarily located in prime city center and resort locations. Visit www.pkhotelsandresorts.com for more information. 

PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES RECONCILIATIONS
HOTEL EBITDA, PRO-FORMA HOTEL ADJUSTED EBITDA AND
PRO-FORMA HOTEL REVENUES

PARK HOTELS & RESORTS INC.
DEFINITIONS

EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA

Hotel earnings before interest expense, taxes and depreciation and amortization (“Hotel EBITDA”), presented herein, reflects net income excluding depreciation and amortization, interest income, interest expense and income taxes of the Company’s consolidated hotels. Hotel Adjusted EBITDA is Hotel EBITDA further adjusted to exclude items that management believes are not representative of the Company’s consolidated hotels current or future operating performance and is a key measure of the Company’s consolidated hotels profitability. The Company presents Hotel Adjusted EBITDA to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of the Company’s consolidated hotels.

Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under United States (“U.S.”) GAAP and should not be considered as an alternative to net income or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, the Company’s definition of Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

The Company believes that Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to investors about the Company and its financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are among the measures used by the Company’s management team to make day-to-day operating decisions and evaluate its operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the effect of its capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from its operating results; and (ii) Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as common performance measures to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in the industry.

Hotel EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss) or other methods of analyzing the Company’s operating performance and results as reported under U.S. GAAP.

Occupancy

Occupancy represents the total number of room nights sold divided by the total number of room nights available at a hotel or group of hotels. Room nights available to guests have not been adjusted for suspended or reduced operations at certain of Park’s hotels as a result of COVID-19. Occupancy measures the utilization of the Company’s hotels’ available capacity. Management uses occupancy to gauge demand at a specific hotel or group of hotels in a given period. Occupancy levels also help management determine achievable Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) levels as demand for rooms increases or decreases.

Average Daily Rate

ADR represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights sold in a given period. ADR measures average room price attained by a hotel and ADR trends provide useful information concerning the pricing environment and the nature of the customer base of a hotel or group of hotels. ADR is a commonly used performance measure in the hotel industry, and management uses ADR to assess pricing levels that the Company is able to generate by type of customer, as changes in rates have a more pronounced effect on overall revenues and incremental profitability than changes in occupancy, as described above.

Revenue per Available Room

Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”) represents rooms revenue divided by the total number of room nights available to guests for a given period. Room nights available to guests have not been adjusted for suspended or reduced operations at certain of Park’s hotels as a result of COVID-19. Management considers RevPAR to be a meaningful indicator of the Company’s performance as it provides a metric correlated to two primary and key factors of operations at a hotel or group of hotels: occupancy and ADR. RevPAR is also a useful indicator in measuring performance over comparable periods.

Pro-forma

The Company presents certain data for its consolidated hotels on a pro-forma hotel basis as supplemental information for investors: Pro-forma Hotel Revenues, Pro-forma RevPAR, Pro-forma Occupancy, Pro-forma ADR and Pro-forma Hotel Adjusted EBITDA. The Company presents pro-forma hotel results to help the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of its hotels. The Company’s pro-forma metrics exclude results from property dispositions that have occurred through September 7, 2021 and include results from property acquisitions as though such acquisitions occurred on the earliest period presented.

For more information, contact:
Ian Weissman
Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy
571-302-5591
iweissman@pkhotelsandresorts.com

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www.pkhotelsandresorts.com