Paul Whetsell Quotes (7 Quotes)

The benefits of our renovation program are accelerating. By the end of 2005, nearly every property in our portfolio had significant renovation work completed within the past two years. We believe that our portfolio of hotels now is well positioned for con

We have substantially and successfully concluded our asset disposition plan and intend to promptly apply these proceeds to repay our senior unsecured notes. These actions will significantly improve our financial flexibility and interest coverage, providing us a much broader ability to address business issues and further enhance shareholder value.

As Blackstone started to look at some of our assets they made an offer for the whole company which we felt was very attractive.

With our focus on upscale, full-service brands in major urban markets, we benefited fully from the continuing growth in transient business demand and the increased competitive strength of our portfolio. We are encouraged that the development pipeline remains conservative, especially in urban markets, where barriers to new competition are the highest.

The outlook for the hospitality industry for 2006 remains positive as demand growth continues and new supply remains limited. Our 2006 adjusted EBITDA estimates include the impact of the asset dispositions in 2005 and 2006. Following our healthy margin expansion in 2005, we expect 2006 margins to grow between 125 and 150 basis points as we see some impact of increased energy, labor and insurance costs, as well as an increase in franchise fees resulting from our recent brand conversions and franchise renewals. Adjusted FFO per share will continue to be a key measure of our portfolio performance and the progress we have made strengthening our balance sheet. Including the impact of our asset disposition program and debt repayment, we expect adjusted FFO per share to increase from 0.71 per share in 2005 to 0.88 to 0.92 per share in 2006 with first quarter adjusted FFO per share of 0.13 to 0.16.

Our management team remained focused and active in early 2006. We have taken several actions since year end that will greatly accelerate our capital structure improvement and provide a stronger platform for future growth.

Following the completion of the Blackstone transaction, we will have sold 25 assets for 586 million since the beginning of 2005. This group of 25 properties contributed over 30 million in adjusted EBITDA2 for the full year 2005. These sales essentially complete our asset disposition program, with only six properties remaining for disposition that are expected to generate approximately 70 million in proceeds. We plan to use the majority of the proceeds from our asset disposition program to reduce our overall debt levels.