DiamondRock Hospitality pany(US:DRH)2025-05-02 16:02Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Comparable RevPAR increased by 2% year-over-year, while total RevPAR increased by 1.6% [4] - Hotel adjusted EBITDA margins increased by 54 basis points, with hotel adjusted EBITDA in Q1 at $61.3 million, reflecting a 2.2% growth over 2024 [10] - Adjusted FFO was $0.19 per share, an increase of 5.6% over 2024, and free cash flow per share increased by 10% to $0.63 [11] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - Urban hotels saw RevPAR growth of 5%, driven by group and business transient segments, while food and beverage revenue declined by 3.3% year-over-year [4][5] - Resort portfolio experienced a decline in comparable RevPAR by 2.1%, with total revenues slightly up in January and February but down by 4.3% in March [6][8] - Group room revenues increased by 10.4% year-over-year, with urban hotels seeing a 14.4% increase [9] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Florida assets experienced mid-single-digit revenue declines, with RevPAR down 5.9% [8] - Outside of Florida, RevPAR increased by 1.7%, with notable increases in luxury resorts like The Heights and Vail, which saw RevPAR growth of 7% and total RevPAR growth of 9.5% [8] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company is focused on adding groups to resorts to enhance pricing and profitability, while also managing costs effectively in the face of revenue softness [9] - The company plans to continue share repurchases and is exploring refinancing options for maturing debts [12][13] - The outlook for 2025 has been revised, with FFO per share guidance unchanged at $0.94 to $1.06, and RevPAR outlook adjusted to a range of -1% to +1% growth [25][26] Management's Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management noted that the macroeconomic environment remains unsettled, impacting group lead conversion rates, but expressed cautious optimism for the second half of 2025 [22][24] - The company anticipates that demand for drive-to resorts may increase due to economic conditions, while foreign visitation is expected to be softer than initially anticipated [20][21] - Management highlighted the importance of maintaining liquidity and flexibility in the current environment while focusing on increasing earnings per share [80] Other Important Information - The company repurchased 1.4 million shares at an average price of $7.85, with a total of approximately $16 million in repurchases year-to-date [12] - The company has three mortgage loans maturing in 2025, totaling just under $300 million, and is considering a recast of its corporate credit facility [12][13] Q&A Session Summary Question: Preliminary portfolio-wide RevPAR for April - Management indicated that preliminary April RevPAR is showing better than 2% growth [31] Question: Impact of tariffs on renovation costs - Management stated that renovation costs are complex and depend on the timing of orders and tariffs [32][34] Question: Profile of average group bookings - Management noted that group bookings range from associations to corporate events, with average hotel sizes around 200 to 250 rooms [39] Question: Markets with strong group pacing - Management highlighted Denver and Salt Lake as markets showing significant strength in group bookings [42] Question: Average booking window for groups - Management mentioned that the booking window for smaller groups is typically 4 to 6 months, while larger groups book 8 to 12 months out [57] Question: Consumer behavior shifts in booking and spending - Management observed that booking windows are getting shorter, but on-property spending remains in line with or ahead of last year [70] Question: Expectations for wages and benefits growth - Management expects wages and benefits growth to be around 3% to 3.5% for the full year [76] Question: Incremental share repurchases versus cash position - Management emphasized the importance of driving value through share repurchases while maintaining liquidity [80]