Xenia Hotels & Resorts Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
August 2, 2023

There are 10 speakers on the call.

Operator

And welcome to the Xenia Hotels and Resorts Inc. Q2 2023 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Elliot, and I'll be coordinating your call today. I'd now like to hand over to Amanda Bryan, Vice President of Finance. The floor is yours.

Operator

Please go ahead.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Elliot, and welcome to Xenia Hotels and Resorts 2nd Quarter 2023 Earnings Call and Webcast. I'm here with Marcel Verbos, our Chair and Chief Executive Officer Barry Bloom, our President and Chief Operating Officer and Atisha Shah, our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Marcel will begin with a discussion on our performance, Barry will follow with more details on operating trends and capital expenditure projects, And Atish will conclude today's remarks on our balance sheet and outlook for 2023. We will then open the call for Q and A. Before we get started, let me remind everyone that certain statements made on this call are not historical facts and are considered forward looking statements.

Speaker 1

These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties as described in our annual report on Form 10 ks and other SEC filings, which could cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by our comments. Forward looking statements in our earnings release That we issued this morning along with the comments on this call are made only as of today, August 2, 2023, and we undertake No obligation to publicly update any of these forward looking statements as actual events unfold. You can find reconciliations of non GAAP financial measures Net income and definitions of certain items referred to in our remarks in the earnings release, which is available on the Investor Relations section of our website, The Q2 2023 property level portfolio information we'll be speaking about today is on a same property basis for all 32 hotels, unless specified otherwise. An archive of this call will be available on our website for 90 days. I will now turn it over to Marcel to get started.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Amanda, and good afternoon to everyone joining our call today. While overall results for the quarter were slightly below our expectations, The year is unfolding largely as we expected. Our demand segmentation mix continues to return towards pre pandemic levels As leisure demand has started to normalize, while business transient and group demands continue to recover. And we are seeing good earnings contribution from our recently acquired hotels, W Nashville and I Agreements Portland at the Oregon Convention Center. For the quarter, we reported net income of $13,800,000 Adjusted EBITDAre of $74,700,000 and adjusted FFO per share of 0 point 4 $7 with all of these measures reflecting declines against outsized results in the Q2 of in the Q2 of 2022.

Speaker 2

Same property RevPAR in the quarter was $182.49 A modest decrease of 2% as compared to 2022 as a result of softer demand in a select number of our leader oriented properties, Negative weather impact at our California Hotels and Resorts and impact from our ongoing renovations. Occupancy decreased 10 basis points as compared to the Q2 of 2022, while average daily rate decreased 1.8%. Excluding renovation impacts in the quarter at Grand Bohemian Orlando, Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City and Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, We estimate that same property RevPAR would have been nearly flat compared to the Q2 of 2022. As compared to the Q2 of 2019, RevPAR for the 30 hotels we currently own that were open at that time was down 1.6% in the quarter. For these 30 hotels, which exclude Hyatt Regency Portland and W Nashville, occupancy was roughly 11 points below 2019, Well, ADR was up 14.7%.

Speaker 2

Adjusted EBITDAre of $74,700,000 Reflected a decrease of $14,000,000 or 15.7% compared to the Q2 of 2022. We attribute the vast majority of the $14,000,000 decline in the quarter to lapping strong Q2 2022 results due to the post omicron bounce in demand and unsustainably low operating expenses during that quarter. However, we estimate that renovation activity in the 2nd quarter also contributed approximately $3,000,000 of the $14,000,000 year over year decline in the quarter. Hotel EBITDA margin on a same property basis contracted 423 basis points compared to the Q2 of 2022, which was in line with our expectations. As compared to the Q2 of 2019, margins at the 30 hotels we currently own that were open at that time Decreased 103 basis points.

Speaker 2

Recall that our portfolio benefited from a combination of very strong rate driven RevPAR growth And expenses that were well below normalized levels in the Q2 of last year, which resulted in significant flow through to the bottom line. Property expenses started normalizing in the Q1 of 2022 as many of our properties successfully filled open positions and resumed services. Now turning to our markets. In the Q2, our properties experienced a wide range of Comparable RevPAR results. With the weakest results in markets with significant renovation disruption, negative weather related impact such as our California markets Or with difficult year over year comparisons due to outsized levels of leisure demand last year, such as Key West and Napa.

Speaker 2

The strongest growth was notably in markets where we own properties that have historically been more dependent on corporate transient and group demand. 5 of these markets reported double digit RevPAR growth, including Houston, Portland, Philadelphia, Nashville and Atlanta, While Pittsburgh and San Francisco also experienced RevPAR growth in excess of 8%. Despite the significant variances in RevPAR results across all 22 markets and 32 properties and the factors I mentioned earlier, Overall results were nearly in line with our expectations. We remain very optimistic about our portfolio growth prospects and see meaningful opportunities for earnings growth in the years ahead through internal drivers such as continued recovery potential, stabilization of our recent acquisitions And several significant recent and ongoing capital expenditure projects, which Barry will touch upon later. As we've discussed in prior earnings calls, we have meaningful recovery potential in some of our larger group and business transient focused hotels, Mainly Marriott San Francisco Airport, Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, our 2 Dallas Hotels and our 3 Houston Hotels.

Speaker 2

In the Q2, these 7 hotels reported over 9% RevPAR growth on average as compared to 2022. However, RevPAR at these 7 hotels was still approximately 15% below the Q2 of 2019, While EBITDA was still approximately 24% lower than the same period. Also, our acquisitions have been accretive. Our 2 most recent acquisitions, Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center and W Nashville Continue to ramp up nicely in the 2nd quarter. Both properties grew RevPAR by double digit percentages over the Q2 of 2022 as group business gained momentum.

Speaker 2

For 2023, group room revenue on the books at both properties is currently over 45% ahead of Located adjacent to the Oregon Convention Center, the Hyatt Regency Portland continues to benefit from a combination of strong citywide and in house group business And successfully taking share from other group focused hotels. W Nashville also benefited from strong group production in the quarter and is successfully building a solid Basel Group business to augment a rapidly growing Basel business transient with local corporate accounts. Working closely with Marriott, the property is making good headway with respect to its overall revenue management strategy. The property is performing very well on the room side of the business in line with our underwriting with significant growth potential remaining on the food and beverage side. The hotel is under the leadership of a new General Manager with significant experience with the W Brands and large complex food and beverage operations.

Speaker 2

We remain optimistic about the future of this outstanding hotel. We continue to believe that Hyatt Regency Portland, NW Natural Have the potential to contribute in excess of $20,000,000 in combined annual EBITDA above their 2022 EBITDA contribution once both properties stabilize. Before I wrap up my comments, I'd like to highlight that despite uncertainty in the economy, the 3rd quarter is off to an encouraging start With preliminary July same property RevPAR up 1.5% as compared to July 2022, Reflecting a modest improvement over the 2nd quarter results despite significant impact from our ongoing renovations. We estimate that July RevPAR for our portfolio, excluding Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, Granville, Emile in Orlando and Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City Was up over 6% compared to last year, highlighting both the short term impact of these renovations and the strong performance of the remainder of the portfolio during the month. At current levels and given meaningful long term growth potential, we view Xenia shares as attractively valued in today's market We have significantly improved the quality and diversification of the portfolio through over $3,000,000,000 in transaction activity since our listing in 2015.

Speaker 2

And we are continuing to invest capital expenditures that we believe will generate attractive returns. Meanwhile, we continue to balance this portfolio investment with returns to shareholders. Year to date, we have repurchased over 5,000,000 shares of stock at an average price of $13.10 per share. At our current stock price, our implied value is approximately $265,000 per key, which is significantly below replacement costs given the quality of our portfolio. I will now turn the call over to Barry I see we'll provide more detailed portfolio performance information and an update on our capital expenditure projects.

Speaker 3

Thank you, Marcel, and good afternoon, everyone. As Marcel indicated in his remarks, the same property leaders in terms of RevPAR growth in the quarter Included, many of the hotels and markets have lagged over the past 2 years, supporting our view that the overall recovery has extended beyond leisure oriented properties and the Sunbelt. As expected, results in the 2nd quarter reflected very challenging year ago growth comparisons along with renovation impact. The The quarter began with occupancy of 70.6 percent in April with an ADR of $277.27 Resulting in RevPAR of $195.72 a 1.5% decline compared to April 2022. May occupancy was 68.5 percent with an ADR of $265.67 resulting in RevPAR of $181.90 virtually flat to 2022.

Speaker 3

The weakest month of the quarter was June, largely owing to the start of our comprehensive renovation and repositioning of Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, With occupancy of 66.8 percent at an ADR of $254.38 resulting in RevPAR of $169.84 3.3% decline to June 2022. Absent the impact from renovations, we estimate same property RevPAR in the 2nd quarter would have been nearly flat to 2022. Similar to last quarter, rate growth at our same property portfolio moderated in the 2nd quarter, declining 1.8% as compared to the Q2 of 2022. By way of reminder, rate grew an astounding 21% in the Q2 of 2022 compared to the Q2 of 2021 for the 30 hotels in the same property portfolio. On average, rate declines at our leisure orient hotels in the Q2 exceeded that of our same property portfolio as compared to the Q2 of 2022.

Speaker 3

Federal rates at these properties remain well above 2019 levels. For instance, rates in Key West and Napa were 43% 36 We also note that our hotels in Charleston and Savannah were not impacted to the same degree by the softening year over year And held up well with only very modest RevPAR declines. On a sequential basis, occupancy for the 2nd quarter improved by 2.5 points compared to the 1st quarter, Reflecting our commentary regarding continued opportunity for recovery, particularly in the corporate segment. Business on Mondays through Thursdays are still down nearly 14 points in occupancy from 2019 levels, while weekend occupancies are down approximately 8%. The most notable improvements in occupancy in the quarter were in our corporate and group focused markets with continued growth and business transient demand remaining solid.

Speaker 3

Business from the largest corporate accounts across our portfolio continues to improve year to date, but remains about 20% down from 2019 levels. We continue to benefit from healthy group production in all periods, with pace being driven by increases in both room nights and rate. Including our 2 most recent acquisitions, iRMC Portland and W Nashville, group room revenue on the books for 2023 is currently over 16% ahead of last year at about 6% of twenty twenty two levels from the second half of twenty twenty three. If we exclude Hyatt and C Scottsdale, The meeting space is mostly unavailable for the remainder of this year. Our group pace for 2023 is up approximately 20% over 2022 levels and about 13% ahead of 2022 levels from the second half of twenty twenty three.

Speaker 3

We believe there is continued opportunity for further recovery in group business Our current group revenue on the books for 2023 is about 6.5% behind 2019 levels, excluding Hyatt Regency Scottsdale. Now turning to expenses and profit. 2nd quarter same property hotel EBITDA was $79,400,000 a decrease of 14.4% on a total revenue decrease of 2% compared to the Q2 of 2022, resulting in 423 basis points of margin erosion. This decrease in hotel EBITDA margin for the quarter reflected the lapping of outside Q2 2022 results coming out of the pandemic. We had very strong pent up demand, coupled with many hotels who are not operating at normalized staffing and service levels.

Speaker 3

Both rooms and food and beverage department margins decreased in the quarter as compared to 2nd quarter of 2022 as expenses increased on lower revenue. One notable bright spot in the quarter was a 25% reduction in overtime As compared to the Q2 of 2022, as our operators have been better able to hire and more efficiently staff the properties. We were also pleased that A and G, property operations and energy expenses were stable at 4% to 5% increases over the Q2 of 2022. With respect to labor overall, recall that our operators successfully staffed up in the second half of last year to meet the strong recovery in demand. And over the last couple of quarters, they've been successful in matching overall levels of staffing to guest demand.

Speaker 3

Looking ahead to the second half of the year, we expect margin declines to moderate. Turning to CapEx. During the Q2, we invested $22,400,000 in portfolio improvements, bringing our year to date total of $34,000,000 In June, we commenced the $110,000,000 comprehensive renovation and up branding of the 491 Room Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gayney Ranch, with completion of all phases expected by the end of 2024. Working on the 2 acre pool complex is now underway, the meeting facilities and guest room renovations expected to start later this year. Upon completion, the property will have 5 additional keys For a total of 4 96 rooms, it will be rebranded as a Grand Hyatt Resort.

Speaker 3

Also in the quarter, we completed the comprehensive guest room renovation at the Kimpton Hotel Santa Barbara that began in the Q4 of 2022. We also completed the renovation and reconfiguration of the premium suites resulting in the addition of 3 We have several other projects that remain ongoing. At the Grand Bohemian Hotel Orlando, we completed the comprehensive renovation of public Including meeting space, lobby, restaurant, bar, Starbucks and creation of a rooftop bar. A comprehensive renovation of the guest rooms began in the 2nd quarter as expected to be completed in the Q3. At the Park Hyatt, Iara Resort, we continue to work on a significant upgrade to the resort spa and wellness amenities, which will be branded as a Miraval Life and Balance Spa and is now expected to open in phases during the Q3 of this year.

Speaker 3

And finally, at Kimpton Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City, began a comprehensive renovation of meeting space, restaurant, bar and guest rooms in the Q2 that is expected to be completed in the Q3. Our expectation for total capital expenditures this year has been revised slightly lower to a range of $120,000,000 to $140,000,000 Of this amount, approximately $45,000,000 will be spent at Hyatt Regency Scottsdale, which is consistent with our initial guidance provided in early March. We're excited about the projects that we have underway and look forward to their completion. With that, I will turn the call over to Atish.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Barry. I'll provide an update on our balance sheet and discuss our guidance. First on our balance sheet, We fixed our remaining variable rate debt during the quarter. As such, all of our debt is currently fixed at a rate of approximately 5.5%. Our next debt maturity is about 2 years from now.

Speaker 4

We continue to have a fully undrawn line of credit that together with our unrestricted cash Translates to approximately $700,000,000 of liquidity. During the quarter, we reduced our debt outstanding by about 2%, primarily by buying back $30,000,000 of our senior notes. We repurchased our notes in the open market at a price that was approximately 1% below par. In addition, we continue to buy back our stock during and after the Q2. We have approximately $97,000,000 remaining on our for purchase authorization.

Speaker 4

We paid a $0.10 per share dividend in the 2nd quarter On an annualized basis that reflects a yield of approximately 3%. It also reflects a payout ratio of about 40% of projected SAD based on the midpoint of our FFO guidance. 2nd, I'll turn to our full year outlook. Since we last provided guidance, we've lowered our expectation for RevPAR growth by 100 basis points to 5% at the midpoint. This reflects both slightly lower RevPAR in the 2nd quarter as well as slightly greater revenue displacement due to renovation disruption.

Speaker 4

As to adjusted EBITDAre, we have lowered the midpoint by $3,000,000 to $254,000,000 This change is due to renovations being more impactful than previously estimated. More specifically, we have fine tuned our estimates for renovation disruption now that we are farther along with some of the projects and have commenced work in Scottsdale. We now expect the impact of RevPAR to be Approximately 250 basis points, which is up from an expected 200 basis points a quarter ago. We expect the impact to adjusted EBITDAre to be about $18,000,000 which is up from our $15,000,000 prior estimate. Our adjusted FFO guidance, which is $168,000,000 at the midpoint, is unchanged from prior guidance.

Speaker 4

This is a result of the variance in adjusted EBITDAre being offset by lower interest expense and lower income tax expense. Our expectation for interest expense is $2,000,000 lower and our expectation for income tax expense is $1,000,000 lower than prior guidance. Our G and A expense guidance is unchanged. On a per share basis, we expect FFO of $1.51 at the midpoint, which is up about $0.015 from prior guidance due to share repurchases over the last few months. As to our expected seasonality of earnings, our percentage weighting of full year adjusted EBITDAre

Speaker 2

It is

Speaker 4

as follows, and this is by quarter. We expect the 3rd quarter to be in the high teens percentage range and the 4th quarter to be in the mid-twenty percent range. As to hotel EBITDA margin, we expect second half EBITDA margin to decline approximately 140 basis points versus last year. We estimate that second half hotel EBITDA margins would be up approximately 60 basis points versus last year, but for the impact of revenue disruption due to renovations. I'd like to conclude by mentioning that the company continues to be favorably positioned With no near term debt maturities or interest rate risk, a high quality portfolio and strong relationships with brands, managers, lenders and other industry participants.

Speaker 4

Thanks. We're executing and on track on several potential high value projects that we expect to drive strong growth in the years ahead. So with that, we'll be happy to take your questions. And we'll turn the call back over to Elliot to start our Q and A session.

Operator

Thank 2. When prepared to ask your question, please ensure your device is unmuted locally. First question comes from Dori Kassadin with Wells Fargo. Your line is open.

Speaker 1

Thanks. Good morning. You noted that upside remains the F and B side of the W Nashville. What's your new GM brought to the property to accelerate those changes?

Speaker 3

I think the primary mission is really to relook at each of the outlets, who they've served historically I'm really looking and develop a specific marketing plan for each outlet that includes both looking at, I mean, everything top to bottom from What the menu offerings are in each outlet, what the staffing is in those outlets, and most importantly, what The marketing and social media plan is for each of those outlets. I think each outlet is unique and each outlet needs And deserves its own specific marketing plan for the audience that it really intends to target and that's what we've been working with him on over the last 4 weeks or so that

Speaker 2

he's been

Speaker 1

in place. Okay. And so the 5 or so properties that either recently completed renovations or Soon to be completing. How should we think of their ramp and stabilization?

Speaker 3

I think historically in the properties that have recently or are finishing in the next few months here. Each of them has traditionally Renovated very quickly. These are not brand name repositionings. These are high quality renovations of existing product that were generally Leaders or near leaders in their market. So we would expect a pretty quick ramp, meaning a couple of quarters at most to get them back On track.

Speaker 3

They've not lost business permanently. And I think in each of the cases as we look at the product that we're delivering back to the market, The product is clearly better than where the properties were prior to renovation and should have a pretty easy time in terms of the ramp up. The one that's a little unique because it's really additive is the Miraval Spa at Aviara, which we think introduces an entirely new market segment To that resort in terms of really positioning a portion of the property as being a true destination spa resort. So the growth of that and the ramp on of that may take a little bit longer than the more comprehensive top to bottom renovations at Canary, Santa Barbara, Monaco, Salt Lake City and Grand Bohemian Orlando.

Speaker 2

And there's obviously some specifics around each of these markets too. There are market dynamics that are impacting what goes on in some of those markets as well. And as you can imagine, a couple of those, Particularly when you think about Santa Barbara as more of a leisure location where clearly there has been a little bit of softening of the leisure demand overall like we've highlighted in our comments. Well, doing this renovation the way we did it, positions us much better and stronger going forward to compete very effectively for that leisure demand in that market. Similarly, when you think about Salt Lake City, there have been some changes in the market there with a large Hyatt property opening up That clearly impacts other assets around there.

Speaker 2

So again, there, it might take a little longer to get back to where we were, not Certainly because of the renovation and how we position it, but more about some of the overall market dynamics. And again, we did this renovation to position ourselves Much better and much more competitively going forward.

Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you.

Operator

We'll now turn to David Katz with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hi, afternoon, everyone. Thanks for Taking my questions. I wanted to just go back to the W Nashville because

Speaker 6

it's important.

Speaker 5

Just I know you've You've done some strategic shifting and rearranging and so forth. Have your aspirations for it Changed in any way other than maybe perhaps pushing them out just a little bit. Any positive surprises? I know you've talked about it a bit so far, but I think it's worth going back to.

Speaker 2

Yes. Thanks, David. Good afternoon. So to your point, I think when we look at our overall expectations, they really haven't changed. I think and You said this in your question.

Speaker 2

It may have delayed that stabilization by a year or so when we think about how quickly we get to that number. But I highlighted in my comments too that we're very pleased with what's going on, on the room side. And in some ways, it has been a good positive surprise And how quickly we're getting to the RevPAR numbers that we were hoping for on the room side. We've talked Kind of numerous times really about some of the challenges that we've had on the food and beverage side, but we're really encouraged by the momentum that the property will have going forward and being able So overall expectations really haven't changed there.

Speaker 5

Understood. And look, the window That we look through, let's say, the past 3 to 4 weeks, the economic outlook has changed and now we are landing softly, so it would seem. From your perspective, has there been any change in terms of opportunities for you to acquire or opportunities to divest? What's going on through your purview really over it feels like just the past 30 days or so?

Speaker 2

Yes. So it's interesting, and your description is appropriate there. It seems to have shifted very quickly the mindset of Doom and gloom to saying, okay, the soft landing has happened. I think it's probably a little too early to declare a total victory there on the soft landing. I think we still have to see How things play out over the next few months quarters.

Speaker 2

But as we're seeing on the ground, we really haven't seen any drastic changes as it relates to The acquisitions environment or any of those kind of things, clearly, there are still we still have the same expectation, We are in a much higher interest rate environment than where we have previously been, which is going to create some potential opportunities as it relates to acquisitions moving forward. Certainly, there are going to be people that are not going to be willing or able to refinance out of some of their debt that they currently have in place. So We do still believe that's going to create opportunities going forward. And so our fundamental view on that hasn't changed. And as it relates to the business on the ground, We obviously spoke about our results in July, and I certainly wouldn't ascribe those results to all of a sudden the economic climate has changed, We're certainly encouraged by what we're seeing kind of short term and at least where the results for July came in.

Speaker 5

Understood. Appreciate it. Thank you.

Operator

Our next question comes from Tyler Batory with Oppenheimer. Your line is open.

Speaker 6

Good morning. Thank you. Can we stick on July for a second and just maybe talk about what Caused that sequential improvement and you're kind of excluding the renovation impact?

Speaker 2

Yes. As you'll hear more from us on this going forward where we really will give you some data, including and excluding the renovation because clearly, The impacts from the Scottsdale renovation really started happening in June, and that will continue throughout the process of us Renovating and now branding the property. So when we looked at July, as we mentioned, we were And these are estimates based on what we saw from our daily numbers. We think we're up about 1.5% in RevPAR for the month. When you include the 3 properties on the renovation, which really were very significantly impacted in July, we were up about 6% throughout the rest of the portfolio.

Speaker 2

And really what we're seeing there is a bit of a continuation of the trends that we've been seeing, continued strengthening on Group side continuing strengthening in some of those properties that we feel still have a lot of recovery potential. And Yes. The leisure side of the business is a little bit more nuanced, I guess. We're seeing some impact where things really Aren't quite as frothy as they were last year and other properties that are still holding up fairly well. So a little bit of a continuation of what we On the Q2 with a really wide range of outcomes for our various hotels and clearly with the 3 renovation properties on the bottom end Of that spectrum.

Speaker 2

Now the positive there as we look ahead is that certainly the impact from the Scottsdale renovation is going to continue And be fairly significant as we go through the rest of the year. But here, by the end of Q3, we will be done with the Orlando renovation will be done with the Salt Lake City renovation. So the impact from those two renovations is going to be going away as we move forward here.

Speaker 6

Okay. And my follow-up question is just more housekeeping related on the renovations. I guess why more renovation disruption than you expected originally? I mean, I think it's just more disruptive and you're taking longer To complete, I'm not sure if anything what really changed there? And then just maybe remind us real quick on how you calculate and how you think about Renovation disruption and providing that information.

Speaker 2

Well, it's a couple of components. Clearly, as Atis pointed out in his comments, we started the renovation in at Scottsdale. So I had a little bit more Real time info as we saw what happened in June July. So certainly, looked at our forecast For Scottsdale and adjusted debt for the rest of the year, the renovation on Orlando, for example, has taken a little bit longer than we anticipated initially.

Speaker 4

That adds

Speaker 2

a little bit to that as well. It is more just really a fine tuning kind of seeing what we are currently seeing on the ground and adjusting that based on our forecast for The next couple of quarters.

Speaker 5

And the methodology is just I'll leave it there. The methodology to

Speaker 2

Yes, sorry.

Speaker 7

Go ahead.

Speaker 5

Yes, that's fine.

Speaker 4

You got about the methodology and it's just with renovation versus without, it's not lapping the prior year.

Speaker 2

Which of course is an exact science, but best efforts on our part to say what do we think the market would have done If we and what these hotels have done if we hadn't done this renovation. So that's really to Atisha's point, that's the way we look at the methodology.

Speaker 6

Okay, great. I appreciate that detail. Thank you.

Operator

We now turn to Bill Crow with Raymond James. Your line is open.

Speaker 8

Great. Good afternoon, yes. Anything let me start on the expense side. 2nd quarter represent a good run rate. Have you baked in the entirety of the property insurance increase, property taxes, etcetera?

Speaker 8

We still have a few more quarters to go before we kind of fully recognize the increases that have happened.

Speaker 3

Hi, Bill. Thanks for the question. We're up about 25% in property and casualty insurance this year. We have a renewal that's late in the year. So the numbers that were in our initial guidance hold us through the large, large portion of the year at that level.

Operator

Okay.

Speaker 4

Property taxes should be up in the high teens percentage range. So year to date real estate tax and insurance were up 16% and we expected And that to be up about 20% for the full year, is that why?

Speaker 8

No. Thanks. Anything in July, I mean, 6% ex the renovations is pretty strong. Anything there that boosted the numbers, a Taylor Swift concert or anything like that that was unusual?

Speaker 4

Well, TELUS with the concerts we have in 2 markets that was almost 100 basis points. So that was the only unusual thing. Other than that, it was a lot of ins and outs, as Marcelo just mentioned.

Speaker 8

Yes. And then one final one for me. I know JW Marriott just opened in downtown Dallas. Are you seeing any impact on reservations From that new competition? I know it's just a newer hotel and maybe a little bit different guest, but I wonder what you're seeing there.

Speaker 3

No, no, not yet. It's a little different, a little smaller and probably too early to comment on whether we've actually seen any Moving of guests out of either our hotels to that hotel. I mean, we feel pretty good. A lot of our business in that market is very, very The corporate business is very, very geographic specific. And so we the hotel intends to retain all of that business.

Speaker 3

It's really very, very backyard

Operator

Our next question comes from Eric Klein with BMO. Your line is open.

Speaker 7

And then maybe just following up on the renovations. Can you update us just or let us know how you're thinking about the impacts next year And how we should be thinking about the headwinds from the renovation?

Speaker 2

Yes. We'll give you the same update we've given you before, which is we haven't given you an update on that yet. So, as you well know, so but I appreciate the question. Now, obviously, we're getting deeper into the year. Obviously, we are getting deeper into the year here and we're definitely turning our attention to analyzing that.

Speaker 2

We As you know, especially the methodology that we're looking at as far as what do we think the hotel would have done with this renovation not happening versus what is happening, we just want to be able to collect some more data and really see how we do here over the next few months to have a much better sense for How we think things are going to kind of stabilize and come back as we're completing these various components of the renovation that you know are Kind of staged over the next 18 months. So we absolutely will, as we get deeper into the year, put a finer point on that. And clearly, we're going to have to look at it in both ways, which is the disruption like we historically have looked at it and the way we just described it, which is what would the property have done We didn't do this renovation, but also looking at, are we actually going to do better than we did this year or worse than this year? Clearly, at the beginning of the year, we had very good business in Scottsdale. We had the Super Bowl at the beginning of the year, which really aided the performance.

Speaker 2

So clearly, the 1st couple of quarters of next year are going to be a tough comparison. But then as we get deeper into the year And we are completing some of the components of this renovation. I think we'll be much better positioned in the second half of next year than where we are in the second half of this year. So, again, we'll certainly update you on that and expect to do so next quarter when we have a better sense of Where we think things are lining up for next year.

Speaker 7

Got it. And just a follow-up there, are you taking any group business for next year At the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale or you're pushing any of that off to 2025?

Speaker 3

No, there are components in the meeting space that stay in place and in inventory throughout The renovation is just much, much smaller pieces of that inventory. So the opportunity to do a large scale group is really reduced for the balance of the renovation.

Speaker 2

But obviously, we'll have the benefit next year. Sorry, Ari. The only thing I was going to add to that is that Obviously, we'll have the benefit as we get into next year that after we complete the pool renovation, which is obviously pretty disruptive And removes an amenity that people are clearly looking for. If we get that pool once we get that pool renovation behind us, Once we get the stage room renovation done in the way we're currently envisioning it, we're going to have a product to offer that's going to be much more appealing So there are smaller groups that will be able to use the new expense that we'll go after.

Speaker 7

Thanks. And then just maybe on the leisure side of things, Can you give us some more color on what you're seeing with the consumer? Is there less Flurge or room upgrades that you're seeing? And then in the markets that have maybe seen the most pressure Like the Florida Keys, where do you think things level off or stabilize at from a RevPAR standpoint?

Speaker 2

Yes.

Speaker 3

When we think about, in particular, the Key West and Napa properties, those are not Really suite dominant properties, they have very few suite opportunities. So we're not missing out on or seeing people not upgrading to I found we have very few available. It's really more of a market demand issue and where we and our where our hotels And the hotel is kind of able to set rate to drive the occupancies that the hotels want to achieve. So it's really more of a function of what the market is willing to bear across the entire market than it is about our specific Hotels within the market and certainly the opportunity is there for the guests to pay a little less than they were paying before. Where it levels out, I think We're still in the process of trying to understand that month by month.

Speaker 3

Even in Key West and Napa, you have seasonality and the guest changes Over time, certainly, the biggest premiums were achieved in for us in those properties In Q2, so I think we'll start to see that gap moderate as we move through the year. Certainly, we don't see we see stabilization above the 2019 levels for sure. But is there could there be a little more softening in the near term? Certainly possible. But again, every month It's a little different every month.

Speaker 3

The hotels are doing more price discovery and trying to drive that right mix of occupancy and rate.

Speaker 7

Thanks for the color.

Operator

Our next question comes from Michael Bellisario with Baird. Your line is open.

Speaker 9

Thanks. Good afternoon, everyone. First, I just have one follow-up on the renovations. Does having more disruption Tell you anything about how the underlying market is performing or perhaps underperforming around your property?

Speaker 2

Yes. I don't know that there is a direct correlation in this case, but certainly, There are some because if you think about the fact that if the market is extremely frothy, they're not going to have much of a choice but to stay at your hotel anyway that's being renovated. So I think that's clearly in a property like Scottsdale for example, as you're well aware, The summer months are not a high occupancy period, right, for a market like that. So there's a lot of options for people to stay at different hotels. So during those months, we're clearly running at very low occupancies because people aren't going to stay at a hotel that doesn't have a pool available and Has all kind of hammering going on when there's other opportunities to stay.

Speaker 2

So certainly, In those months, that's certainly the case. And your overall premise is appropriate to say that clearly in a very tight market, you wouldn't see as much disruption. I wouldn't necessarily, again, ascribe that particularly to the situation that we're talking about though.

Speaker 9

Got it. That's helpful. Just wanted some clarification there. And then switching gears, just one for Atish on the repurchases that you guys did. How do you think about the different return profiles on buying back stock versus the notes repurchase you did?

Speaker 9

And then on the latter topic of the notes repurchases, is maybe your repurchase there a read through on how you are thinking about or how we should You're thinking about that refinancing that's going to have to take place in 2 years there?

Speaker 4

Yes. So I think We've taken a sort of a balanced approach with regard to share repurchases in general. I think when you look at The return profile for that versus on buying back debt, obviously, there's a different risk and certainty around each one of those. I think we look at those uses of capital just like we look at renovation spending, acquisition spending or anything else. So there's no set formula.

Speaker 4

I think it's a decision we're making kind of real time Based on what we're seeing in the business, the other capital needs and uses potential uses of capital. So it's a bit more nuanced. With regard to the buyback, we certainly are mindful of that maturity in a couple of years and Chipping away at it in one way reduces that maturity. But frankly, we also think it's just a good use Of capital, given the coupon on that debt, relative to the yield we can generate on the cash And the fact that there aren't as many near term opportunities at least with regard to acquisitions, so that's how we're thinking about that piece.

Speaker 7

Helpful. Thank you.

Operator

We'll now turn to Austin Wurschmidt with KeyBanc. Your line is open.

Speaker 9

Great. Thanks and good afternoon. Ignoring renovation disruption for a moment, what is your back half Rev Par growth and margin guidance assume for just corporate and leisure demand trends, meaning are you assuming Similar trends you saw in 2Q and in July, any acceleration or just a softer economic backdrop?

Speaker 4

Well, I think on the RevPAR side, let's just talk about that first. What we saw in July in terms of the RevPAR growth in the portfolio ex disruption and then the impact of disruption It's more consistent with what we expect to see in the back half, sort of mid single digits type RevPAR growth and then with the impact of Disruption closer to flattish, maybe slightly positive. So that's kind of the RevPAR view. On the margin side, For the full year, we had talked about the impact of renovations being about 100 basis points on margin And we continue to think that's about the right range. So that's kind of the big picture and maybe I'll turn it over to Barry if you want to talk about Leisure trends.

Speaker 3

Yes, absolutely. I mean, we certainly see the decline in leisure Moderating as we move deeper in the year and again as we get away from kind of the Q2 peak leisure demand period in the portfolio. But we do see some continued softening in leisure, but that's more than offset by all of the other by the other two components of business we've talked about Strength in being both the group and the corporate transient, I think we have some I think we have realistic, but certainly increasing expectations for corporate demand Recovering through the fall as people get back to business, we certainly saw that in the early part of Q1 and into Hugh, on the corporate side, as being real strength, a little bit of softening that over the summer, but expect that to return as we get into the traditional fall travel season.

Speaker 2

And we obviously talked about the group basis as we currently have for the second half of the year, and that gives us confidence too that Despite some of the softening in leisure that we are seeing this uptick in group sales that is absolutely materializing in the portfolio And some of the trends and corporate trends that Barry talked about.

Speaker 9

That's helpful detail. And then just going back to the prior question, do you view your debt or equity to be more attractive today?

Speaker 5

Well, I think we view them both, both of them

Speaker 4

to be attractive, I mean, in the sense that We took advantage of repurchasing on both debt and equity. So I don't know that I could give you I mean they're just very different, right? So it's hard to compare them And say which one is more attractive given there are just very different risk profiles around each one.

Operator

This concludes our Q and A. I'll now hand back to Marcel Perbas, Chair and CEO for closing remarks.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Elliot, and thanks, everyone, for joining today, and thanks for your questions. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and we look Forward to speaking next quarter. Thanks.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, today's call is now concluded. We'd like to thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your

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Earnings Conference Call
Xenia Hotels & Resorts Q2 2023
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