Choice Hotels beats by $0.03, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS below consensus
Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.67 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.64; revenues fell 0.7% year/year to $215.2 mln vs the $229.29 mln consensus.
- RevPar increased 8.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014 as occupancy and average daily rates increased 320 basis points and 3.4 percent, respectively from the same period of 2013.
- Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.34 vs. $0.40 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. EBITDA for full-year 2014 are expected to range between $216 million and $219 million.
- FY14 Outlook: Franchising: Net domestic unit growth for 2014 is expected to range between 1% and 2%; RevPAR is expected to increase approximately 9% for the fourth quarter and range between 8% and 8.5% for full-year 2014; The effective royalty rate is expected to decline 5 basis points for full-year 2014 as compared to full-year 2013.