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Τετάρτη 29 Ιουλίου 2015

Hilton Worldwide Reports Second Quarter Results, Exceeding High End of Guidance for Adjusted EBITDA and EPS, Announces Quarterly Dividend and Raises Full Year Outlook


MCLEAN, VA (July 29, 2015) - Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. ("Hilton," "Hilton Worldwide" or the "Company") (NYSE: HLT) today reported its second quarter 2015 results and raised its full year 2015 outlook. Highlights include: 
• EPS, adjusted for special items, for the second quarter was $0.25, a 19 percent increase from the same period in 2014; without adjustments, EPS was $0.16 
• Net income attributable to Hilton stockholders for the second quarter was $161 million • Adjusted EBITDA for the second quarter increased 15 percent from the same period in 2014 to $777 million, and Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 320 basis points 
• System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 5.2 percent for the second quarter on a currency neutral basis from the same period in 2014 • Management and franchise fees for the second quarter increased 17 percent from the same period in 2014 to $434 million
 • Net unit growth was over 11,000 rooms in the second quarter, a 56 percent increase from the same period in 2014
 • Approved 24,000 new rooms for development during the second quarter, growing Hilton's development pipeline to 1,510 hotels, consisting of more than 250,000 rooms, as of June 30, 2015
 • Reduced long-term debt by $175 million during the second quarter; additional $350 million prepayment on senior secured loan facility borrowings in July 2015, for a total reduction of $750 million through July 2015
 • Initiated regular quarterly cash dividend with the announcement on July 29, 2015 of a dividend of $0.07 per share to be paid on or before September 25, 2015
 • Increased outlook for full year Adjusted EBITDA to between $2,820 million and $2,870 million, an increase of $20 million at the midpoint adjusting for the sale of the Hilton Sydney

 Overview 
For the three months ended June 30, 2015, earnings per share ("EPS") was $0.16 compared to $0.21 for the three months ended June 30, 2014, and EPS, adjusted for special items, was $0.25 for the three months ended June 30, 2015 compared to $0.21 for the three months ended June 30, 2014. Adjusted EBITDA increased 15 percent to $777 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015, compared to $674 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014, and net income attributable to Hilton stockholders was $161 million for the three months ended June 30, 2015 compared to $209 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014.

 For the six months ended June 30, 2015, EPS was $0.31 compared to $0.34 for the six months ended June 30, 2014, and EPS, adjusted for special items, was $0.37 for the six months ended June 30, 2015 compared to $0.35 for the six months ended June 30, 2014. Adjusted EBITDA increased 16 percent to $1,376 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015, compared to $1,182 million for the six months ended June 30, 2014, and net income attributable to Hilton stockholders was $311 million for the six months ended June 30, 2015 compared to $332 million for the six months ended June 30, 2014.

 Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Worldwide, said, "We are pleased that strong business fundamentals and execution resulted in Adjusted EBITDA and EPS exceeding the high end of guidance. We remain confident in delivering strong performance going forward and are pleased to commence returning capital to stockholders with our announcement this morning of a quarterly dividend."

 Nassetta added, "We continue to lead the industry in organic growth with the largest rooms pipeline and largest share of rooms under construction. Including rooms signed this month, we also reached the milestone of having one million rooms open or under development."

 Segment Highlights 

Management and Franchise

 Management and franchise fees were $434 million in the second quarter of 2015, an increase of 17 percent compared to the same period in 2014. RevPAR at comparable managed and franchised hotels in the second quarter of 2015 increased 5.2 percent on a currency neutral basis (a 3.4 percent increase in actual dollars) compared to the same period in 2014. The increase in RevPAR at comparable managed and franchised hotels and addition of new units have yielded continued strong fee growth during the second quarter of 2015.

 Ownership 
Revenues from the ownership segment were $1,141 million in the second quarter of 2015, and ownership segment Adjusted EBITDA was $318 million, an increase of 9 percent from the same period in 2014. Adjusted EBITDA margin(1) increased 200 basis points. RevPAR at comparable hotels in the ownership segment increased 5.2 percent on a currency neutral basis (a 1.0 percent decrease in actual dollars) in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014, with an increase in RevPAR of 6.5 percent at comparable ownership segment hotels in the United States. Outside of the United States, RevPAR at comparable ownership segment hotels increased by 3.4 percent on a currency neutral basis (a 10.5 percent decrease in actual dollars). 

 *Calculated as ownership segment Adjusted EBITDA divided by ownership segment revenues.

 Timeshare

 Timeshare segment revenue for the second quarter of 2015 was $319 million, an increase of 16 percent from the same period in 2014, and timeshare Adjusted EBITDA was $86 million, an increase of 21 percent. Commissions recognized from the sale of third-party developed timeshare intervals increased $24 million during the second quarter of 2015 from the same period in 2014, and sales revenue on owned inventory increased $14 million.

 In the second quarter of 2015, 59 percent of intervals sold were developed by third parties. Hilton Worldwide's overall supply of timeshare intervals as of June 30, 2015 was approximately 124,000 intervals. With the addition of a recently signed condo-hotel conversion in Orlando, Hilton Worldwide increased its timeshare supply to nearly 136,000 intervals, or about six years of sales at current pace, with over 83 percent developed by third parties.

 Development 

Hilton Worldwide opened 82 hotels and achieved net unit growth of over 11,000 rooms during the second quarter of 2015. In July 2015, Hilton Worldwide entered two new countries with the openings of the Hilton Aruba Caribbean Resort & Casino and the Hilton Garden Inn Guatemala City, increasing Hilton Worldwide's global presence to 97 countries and territories.

 As of June 30, 2015, Hilton Worldwide had the largest rooms pipeline in the lodging industry(2), with more than 250,000 rooms at 1,510 hotels throughout 85 countries and territories, including 32 countries and territories where Hilton Worldwide does not currently have any open hotels. Approximately 136,000 rooms, or 54 percent of the pipeline, were located outside of the United States. All of the development pipeline is in the capital light management and franchise segment, and over half, or approximately 128,000 rooms, were under construction. At nearly 20 percent, Hilton Worldwide also has the largest share of rooms under construction globally(2). Including all agreements approved but not signed, Hilton Worldwide's pipeline totaled nearly 265,000 rooms. 

 (2) Source: Smith Travel Research, Inc. ("STR") Global New Development Pipeline (June 2015).

Balance Sheet and Liquidity

 During the second quarter of 2015, Hilton made voluntary prepayments of $175 million on its senior secured term loan facility. In July 2015, Hilton made an additional $350 million prepayment on its senior secured term loan facility using net proceeds from the sale of the Hilton Sydney. 

As of June 30, 2015, Hilton had $10.4 billion of outstanding indebtedness with a weighted average interest rate of 4.2 percent, excluding $780 million of non-recourse debt.

 Total cash and cash equivalents were $759 million as of June 30, 2015, including $248 million of restricted cash and cash equivalents. No borrowings were outstanding under the $1.0 billion revolving credit facility as of June 30, 2015.

 Hilton Worldwide initiated a regular quarterly cash dividend with the announcement on July 29, 2015 of a dividend of $0.07 per share on shares of its common stock to be paid on or before September 25, 2015 to stockholders of record of its common stock as of the close of business on August 14, 2015.

 Outlook
 Full Year 2015 
• System-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 5.0 percent and 7.0 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis, with ownership segment RevPAR expected to increase between 4.0 percent and 6.0 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis as compared to 2014.
 • Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $2,820 million and $2,870 million, an increase of $20 million at the midpoint adjusting for the sale of the Hilton Sydney.
 • Management and franchise fees are projected to increase approximately 11 percent to 13 percent. 
• Timeshare segment Adjusted EBITDA is projected to be between $335 million and $350 million.
 • Corporate expense and other is projected to remain flat to prior year.
 • Diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, is projected to be between $0.80 and $0.84.
 • Capital expenditures, excluding timeshare inventory, are expected to be between $350 million and $400 million. • Net unit growth is expected to be approximately 40,000 rooms to 45,000 rooms. • Expect cash available for debt prepayments or capital return to stockholders to be between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion, which includes two expected dividend payments. 4 Third Quarter 2015 
• System-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 4.5 percent and 6.5 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis compared to the third quarter of 2014.
 • Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $730 million and $750 million.
 • Management and franchise fees are expected to increase approximately 10 percent to 12 percent. 
• Diluted EPS, adjusted for special items, is projected to be between $0.21 and $0.23. 
Conference Call Hilton Worldwide will host a conference call to discuss second quarter 2015 results on July 29, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. 

Participants may listen to the live webcast by logging onto the Hilton Worldwide Investor Relations website at http:// ir.hiltonworldwide.com/investors/events-and-presentations. A replay and transcript of the webcast will be available within 24 hours after the live event at http://ir.hiltonworldwide.com/investors/financial-reporting/quarterly-results. 

Alternatively, participants may listen to the live call by dialing 1-877-201-0168 in the United States or 1-647-788-4901 internationally. Please use the conference ID 74328196. Participants are encouraged to dial into the call or link to the webcast at least fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled start time. A telephone replay will be available for seven days following the call. To access the telephone replay, dial 1-855-859-2056 or 1-404-537-3406 using the Conference ID 74328196. 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. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the expectations regarding the performance of Hilton's business, financial results, liquidity and capital resources 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," "approximately," "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, among others, risks inherent to the hospitality industry, macroeconomic factors beyond Hilton's control, competition for hotel guests, management and franchise agreements and timeshare sales, risks related to doing business with third-party hotel owners, Hilton's significant investments in owned and leased real estate, performance of Hilton's information technology systems, growth of reservation channels outside of Hilton's system, risks of doing business outside of the United States and Hilton's indebtedness.
 Additional factors that could cause Hilton's results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found under the section entitled "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors" of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), as such factors may be updated from time to time in Hilton's 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 Hilton's filings with the SEC.
The Company undertakes 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 The Company refers to certain non-GAAP financial measures in this press release, including net income and EPS, adjusted for special items, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA margins and Net Debt. Please see the schedules to the press release and "Definitions" for additional information and reconciliations of such non-GAAP financial measures.