Hotelier expects to beat third-quarter forecasts

Monday, Oct. 21, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

SILVER SPRINGS, Md. -- Choice Hotels International Inc., the world's second-largest hotel franchiser with six Las Vegas properties, Friday said it expects to beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter earnings.

The company forecast of 54 cents a share is 2 cents ahead of the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. In the third quarter a year ago, as a slowdown in travel after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was beginning, the company earned 45 cents a share.

Choice Hotels said earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization for the quarter would be $39.3 million, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier.

"We are extremely pleased that Choice continues to produce strong results in a sluggish economic climate," Chief Executive Charles Ledsinger Jr. said. "Choice's basic franchising model has demonstrated its fundamental strength to perform in a wide range of economic circumstances, which keeps us well-positioned for future success."

New York Stock Exchange-listed Choice Hotels shares closed Friday at $17.40, down $1.85, or 10 percent.

The company also expects full-year earnings of $1.47 to $1.49 a share, above a First Call estimate of $1.45 a share as well as 2001 earnings of $1.25 a share. Choice Hotels plans to release its third-quarter earnings on Oct. 29.

Choice operates more than 4,600 hotels under Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Sleep, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn and MainStay Suites brands worldwide.

In Las Vegas, Choice has two Comfort Inns, two Econo Lodges, one Rodeway Inn and the Quality Inn Key Largo Casino.