Hilton has just reported sparkling results with Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer of Hilton Worldwide, commenting:
“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.
“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.”
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.
Highlights
- 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