RevPAR Acceleration Prompts Second Straight Outlook Increase
Second-quarter revenue rose 5.5% to $383.0 million as room rates strengthened.
RLJ Lodging Trust (RLJ), a hotel real estate investment trust, reported accelerating room revenue and raised its full-year outlook for a second consecutive quarter.
Comparable RevPAR rose 6.8% from a year earlier to $167.15, extending its recovery from 4.8% growth in the first quarter after declines in the final two quarters of 2023.
Total revenue increased 5.5% to $383.0 million, compared with 3.6% growth in the prior quarter. Adjusted FFO rose 8.3% to $0.52 a diluted share, while net income increased 9.4% to $31.3 million after a $0.3 million loss in the first quarter.
The quarter's RevPAR gain became more price-driven. Comparable average daily rate increased 4.9% to $217.18, accelerating from 2.1% growth in the first quarter, while occupancy rose 1.4 percentage points to 77.0%. Comparable non-room revenue growth eased to 7.1%, leaving it roughly in line with RevPAR growth after a wider lead in the prior quarter.
Comparable Hotel EBITDA increased 7.1% to $119.5 million, sustaining the first quarter's growth rate and reversing declines in the second half of 2023. Hotel EBITDA margin expanded 10 basis points to 31.3%, a narrower improvement than the first quarter's 45-basis-point gain.
RLJ's updated full-year outlook calls for comparable RevPAR growth of 3.5% to 4.5%, Adjusted EBITDA of $336 million to $356 million and adjusted FFO of $1.37 to $1.50 a diluted share.
The company sold a Fremont, California, hotel for $13.2 million during the quarter, reducing its comparable portfolio to 91 hotels from 92 at the end of March.