Press Release: Host Marriott Corporation
December 7, 2001
BETHESDA, MD -- Host Marriott Corporation (NYSE: HMT) yesterday announced an amendment to its bank credit facility
and the declaration of a dividend on its Series A, B and C Preferred Stock, as detailed below. In addition, the
company provided updated operating information for its fourth quarter of 2001.
Bank Credit Facility
The company amended the terms, including financial covenants, of its bank credit facility for the period through
August 15, 2002 in order to provide greater financial flexibility. The revisions to the bank credit facility are
described in greater detail in a Report on Form 8-K filed on December 5, 2001.
Dividends
Host Marriott's Board of Directors declared a regular quarterly cash dividend of $.625 per share on its Class A
Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, Class B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and Class C Cumulative Redeemable
Preferred Stock for the fourth quarter of 2001 payable on January 15, 2002 to shareholders of record on December
31, 2001. The Board of Directors at the same time decided to temporarily suspend the payment of the dividend on
the company's common stock.
Operating Results
The company recorded the following hotel operating statistics for our comparable hotels for the four week accounting
periods ended October 5, 2001 and November 2, 2001.
Occupancy Rate RevPAR % Change
Four weeks ended
October 5, 2001 54.6% $141.27 $77.11 (42.7%)
Four weeks ended
November 2, 2001 69.3% $149.96 $ 103.94 (25.8%)
Subsequent to November 2, 2001, the company has continued to see improvement in RevPAR, although results are still
well below prior year levels. Although it is still experiencing operating difficulties as a result of the economic
recession and the effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the New York World Trade Center and the
Pentagon and conditions remain volatile, the RevPAR results for the company's portfolio of hotels, to date, have
been slightly better than the company's managers' initial forecast for the post-September 11th portion of 2001.
Similarly, the post-September 11, 2001 operating margins for Host Marriott's hotels, although below prior year
and pre-September 11th levels, have exceeded the company's managers' initial expectations due to extensive cost-cutting
efforts at our properties.
Host Marriott Corporation is a lodging real estate company which owns 124 upscale and luxury full-service hotel
properties primarily operated under Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Hyatt, Hilton and Swissotel brand names.
For further information on Host Marriott Corporation, please visit the company's website at http://www.hostmarriott.com
.
Certain matters discussed herein are forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements
on our current expectations and projections about future events. We identify forward-looking statements in this
press release by using words or phrases such as ``believe,'' ``expect,'' ``may be,'' ``intend,'' ``predict,'' ``project,''
``plan,'' ``objective,'' ``will be,'' ``should,'' ``estimate,'' or ``anticipate,'' or the negative thereof or other
variations thereof or comparable terminology. All forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors which may cause our actual transactions, results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future transaction, results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Although we believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable
assumptions, we can give no assurance that we will attain these expectations or that any deviations will not be
material. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligations or undertaking
to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward- looking statement contained in this press release
to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances
on which any such statement is based.
SOURCE: Host Marriott Corporation