RLJ Lodging Trust reports Q1 FFO 33c, consensus 32c

Reports Q1 revenue $324.4M, consensus $321.8M. Reports Q1 Portfolio Comparable RevPAR of $137.88; an increase of 1.0% from last year. “Our first quarter RevPAR growth came in line with our expectations given the holiday shift and we once again exceeded the industry while gaining market share,” commented Leslie Hale, CEO. “Our outperformance relative to the industry continues to underscore the strong positioning of our urban-centric portfolio which is benefiting from steady improvement in business transient demand and increasing international travel, in addition to solid group and healthy urban leisure. Our growth is being further aided by the strong returns we are generating from our conversions and ROI initiatives which bolster our confidence in our next wave of conversions that are on track to be completed this year. We expect our momentum to be driven by positive trends that are disproportionately benefiting urban markets, the continuing ramp up of our completed conversions and our strong balance sheet that provides significant optionality, all of which demonstrate our multiple channels of growth.”