Sunstone Hotel Investors Q1 Profit Beats Estimates - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (SHO) reported that its first-quarter loss from continuing operations narrowed to $3.50 million or $0.04 per share, compared to a loss of $19.48 million or $0.20 per share, previous year. Total loss to stockholders was $0.04, compared to profit of $0.12, prior year. Adjusted FFO per share was $0.15, for the quarter. On average, 15 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of $0.14 for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenues rose to $243.48 million from $194.92 million. Analysts expected revenue of $235.06 million, for the quarter. Comparable Hotel RevPAR increased 8.6%.

Ken Cruse, CEO of the company, said, "Our first quarter revenues and profitability exceeded initial expectations driven by improving group demand and ongoing strength in business travel. During the quarter our future group bookings accelerated. Our 2014 group revenues on the books are now outpacing prior year levels by approximately 6.5%. Additionally, continued property-level innovation and solid expense controls helped to drive a 210 basis point increase in our same-store hotel EBITDA margins in the first quarter. Our outlook for the remainder of 2014 and beyond has improved."

The company expects its second-quarter adjusted FFO per share in the range of $0.37-$0.39. Comparable Hotel RevPAR Growth is expected to be in the range of 4.0%-6.0%. Analysts expect the company to report second-quarter earnings per share of $0.37.

The company now expects its fiscal 2014 adjusted FFO per share in the range of $1.07-$1.16; compared to prior outlook of $1.04-$1.15. Comparable Hotel RevPAR Growth is now expected to be in the range of 4.5%-6.5%. Analysts expect the company to report fiscal 2014 earnings per share of $1.13.