Chesapeake Lodging Trust Reports Third Quarter Results

Chesapeake Lodging Trust (NYSE:CHSP), a lodging real estate investment trust (REIT), reported today its financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.

HIGHLIGHTS

• RevPAR: 7.2% pro forma increase for the hotel portfolio over the same period in 2014.
• Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin: 110 basis point pro forma increase to 35.2% for the hotel portfolio over the same period in 2014.
• Adjusted Hotel EBITDA: $58.1 million.
• Adjusted Corporate EBITDA: $54.1 million.
• Adjusted FFO: $42.9 million or $0.73 per diluted common share.
• Dividend: Increased third quarter 2015 dividend by 14% to $0.40 per common share (5.8% annualized yield based on the closing price of the Trust’s common shares on October 30, 2015).
• Share Repurchase Program: Authorized to acquire up to $100.0 million of its common shares.

HOTEL OPERATING RESULTS

Management assesses the operating performance of its hotels irrespective of the hotel owner during the periods compared using the following key operating metrics: occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, Adjusted Hotel EBITDA, and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin. The Trust uses the term "pro forma" to refer to metrics that include, or comparisons of metrics that are based on, the operating results of hotels under previous ownership for either a portion of or the entire period. As of September 30, 2015, the Trust owned 22 hotels. Since two of its hotels owned as of September 30, 2015 were acquired during 2015 and another one was acquired in October 2014, the key operating metrics below reflect the pro forma operating results for those hotels for all, or a certain period, of the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014.

Included in the following table are comparisons of the key operating metrics for the hotel portfolio for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 (in thousands, except for ADR and RevPAR):

Hotel EBITDA, Adjusted Hotel EBITDA, Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin, Corporate EBITDA, Adjusted Corporate EBITDA, FFO, FFO available to common shareholders and AFFO available to common shareholders are non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission. See the discussion included in this press release for information regarding these non-GAAP financial measures.

CAPITAL MARKETS ACTIVITY

On September 29, 2015, the Trust's board of trustees authorized a share repurchase program pursuant to which the Trust may acquire up to $100.0 million of its common shares using cash on hand and borrowings under its revolving credit facility. The timing and volume of repurchases will be determined by the Trust's management based on its ongoing assessments of the capital needs of the business, prevailing market prices, general economic and market conditions and other considerations. The repurchase program authorizes the Trust to repurchase its common shares from time to time through open market purchases, negotiated transactions or other means, including Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, in accordance with applicable securities laws and other restrictions. The repurchase program expires in September 2018, but may be suspended or discontinued at any time, and does not obligate the Trust to acquire any particular amount of its shares. As of November 2, 2015, $100.0 million remained available for the repurchase of common shares.

The Trust has not sold any common shares under its continuous at-the-market (ATM) program during 2015.

DIVIDENDS

On July 15, 2015, the Trust paid dividends in the amounts of $0.35 per share to its common shareholders and $0.484375 per share to its preferred shareholders, both of record as of June 30, 2015. On July 30, 2015, the Trust declared dividends in the amounts of $0.40 per share payable to its common shareholders and $0.484375 per share payable to its preferred shareholders, both of record as of September 30, 2015. Both dividends were paid on October 15, 2015.

2015 OUTLOOK

The Trust is updating its 2015 outlook previously provided on September 29, 2015 to incorporate its third quarter results and recent operating trends and fundamentals. The updated outlook assumes no additional acquisitions, dispositions, or financing transactions (in millions, except RevPAR and per share amounts):

"We are adjusting our full year outlook to reflect more conservative growth expectations for November and December given weaker than expected business transient demand in October predominantly at our hotels located in the San Francisco and New York markets,” said James L. Francis, Chesapeake Lodging Trust’s President and Chief Executive Officer. "We continue to believe positive fundamentals for the U.S. lodging industry and for the majority of our markets remain intact as we look into 2016 based on favorable convention calendars, our group pace, and the continued expectation that lodging demand growth will exceed lodging supply growth.”

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

The Trust reports the following eight non-GAAP financial measures that it believes are useful to investors as key measures of its operating performance: (1) Hotel EBITDA, (2) Adjusted Hotel EBITDA, (3) Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin, (4) Corporate EBITDA, (5) Adjusted Corporate EBITDA, (6) FFO, (7) FFO available to common shareholders and (8) AFFO available to common shareholders. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measure are included in the accompanying financial tables.

Hotel EBITDA – Hotel EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, air rights amortization, corporate general and administrative, and hotel acquisition costs. The Trust believes that Hotel EBITDA provides investors a useful financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s hotel operating performance, excluding the impact of the Trust’s capital structure (primarily interest), the Trust’s asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization), and the Trust’s corporate-level expenses (corporate general and administrative and hotel acquisition costs).

Adjusted Hotel EBITDA – The Trust further adjusts Hotel EBITDA for certain additional recurring and non-recurring items. Specifically, the Trust adjusts for non-cash amortization of intangible assets and liabilities, including ground lease assets and unfavorable contract liabilities, deferred franchise costs, and deferred key money, all of which are recurring items. The Trust believes that Adjusted Hotel EBITDA provides investors with another useful financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s hotel operating performance, excluding the effect of these non-cash items.

Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin – Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin is defined as Adjusted Hotel EBITDA as a percentage of total revenues. The Trust believes that Adjusted Hotel EBITDA Margin provides investors another useful financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s hotel operating performance.

Corporate EBITDA – Corporate EBITDA is defined as net income before interest, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization. The Trust believes that Corporate EBITDA provides investors a useful financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s operating performance, excluding the impact of the Trust’s capital structure (primarily interest expense) and the Trust’s asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization).

Adjusted Corporate EBITDA – The Trust further adjusts Corporate EBITDA for certain additional recurring and non-recurring items. Specifically, the Trust adjusts for hotel acquisition costs and non-cash amortization of intangible assets and liabilities, including air rights contracts, ground lease assets and unfavorable contract liabilities, deferred franchise costs, and deferred key money, all of which are recurring items, and gains (losses) from sales of real estate, which is a non-recurring item. The Trust believes that Adjusted Corporate EBITDA provides investors with another financial measure of its operating performance that provides for greater comparability of its core operating results between periods.

FFO – The Trust calculates FFO in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT), which defines FFO as net income (calculated in accordance with GAAP), excluding depreciation and amortization, impairment charges of depreciable real estate, gains (losses) from sales of real estate, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, and adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most industry investors consider presentations of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. By excluding the effect of depreciation and amortization and gains (losses) from sales of real estate, both of which are based on historical cost accounting and which may be of lesser significance in evaluating current performance, the Trust believes that FFO provides investors a useful financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s operating performance.

FFO available to common shareholders – The Trust reduces FFO for preferred share dividends and dividends declared on and earnings allocated to unvested time-based awards (consistent with adjustments required by GAAP in reporting net income available to common shareholders and related per share amounts). FFO available to common shareholders provides investors another financial measure to evaluate the Trust’s operating performance after taking into account the interests of holders of the Trust’s preferred shares and unvested time-based awards.

AFFO available to common shareholders – The Trust further adjusts FFO available to common shareholders for certain additional recurring and non-recurring items that are not in NAREIT’s definition of FFO. Specifically, the Trust adjusts for hotel acquisition costs and non-cash amortization of intangible assets and liabilities, including air rights contracts, ground lease assets and unfavorable contract liabilities, deferred franchise costs, and deferred key money, all of which are recurring items. The Trust believes that AFFO available to common shareholders provides investors with another financial measure of its operating performance that provides for greater comparability of its core operating results between periods.

CONFERENCE CALL

The Trust will host a conference call on Monday, November 2, 2015 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss its financial results. Interested individuals are invited to listen to the call by dialing (877) 683-0303 (U.S./Canadian callers) or (706) 643-5037 (International callers). The conference call ID is 53678101. A simultaneous webcast of the call will be available on the Trust’s website at www.chesapeakelodgingtrust.com. It is recommended that participants call or log on 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time to ensure proper connection.

A replay of the conference call will be available two hours after the live call until midnight on November 9, 2015. To access the replay, dial (855) 859-2056 (U.S./Canadian callers) or (404) 537-3406 (International callers). The conference call ID is 53678101. A webcast replay and transcript of the conference call will be archived and available on the Trust’s website for 12 months.

ABOUT CHESAPEAKE LODGING TRUST

Chesapeake Lodging Trust is a self-advised lodging real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on investments primarily in upper-upscale hotels in major business and convention markets and, on a selective basis, premium select-service hotels in urban settings or unique locations in the United States. The Trust owns 22 hotels with an aggregate of 6,699 rooms in nine states and the District of Columbia. Additional information can be found on the Trust’s website at www.chesapeakelodgingtrust.com.

Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” “continue” and other similar terms and phrases, including references to assumptions and forecasts, such as the Trust’s expectations regarding the future Hotel EBITDA and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA of its existing hotels and the Trust’s fourth quarter and full year 2015 outlook. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks include, but are not limited to: U.S. economic conditions generally and the real estate market and the lodging industry specifically; management and performance of the Trust's hotels; supply and demand for hotel rooms in the Trust's markets; the Trust's competition; the Trust’s ability to continue to satisfy complex rules in order for it to remain a REIT for federal income tax purposes; and other risks and uncertainties associated with the Trust’s business described in its filings with the SEC. Although the Trust believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information in this release is as of November 2, 2015, and the Trust undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Trust’s expectations, except as required by law.

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