San Clemente-based Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. on Monday reported financial results for the first time since undertaking Orange County’s largest public stock offering of 2004.
The company, a real estate investment trust that owns hotels, said revenue per available room was nearly 8% higher in the fourth quarter than a year earlier. Occupancy at its hotels was nearly 2 percentage points higher, Sunstone said.
The price of a room at one of Sunstone’s hotels was 4.5% higher on average than a year ago, according to the company.
Sunstone reported pro forma earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $22 million, including $5 million in costs related to its October public offering.
The pro forma results reflect the sale of two hotels in the fourth quarter.
In the year-ago quarter, Sunstone had EBITDA of $20 million.
Sunstone raised $416 million in its Oct. 26 offering.
The company’s pro forma net loss came in at nearly $18 million, versus a loss of $14.5 million a year earlier.
Payments on Sunstone’s debt of $712.5 million as of Dec. 31 and some $20 million in fourth-quarter spending on hotel renovations drove the net loss.
Sunstone said it is looking to fix interest rates on about 40% of its debt.
Revenue on a pro forma basis was $123.4 million for the quarter, up nearly 9% from a year earlier.
In the fourth quarter, Sunstone said it sold two Arizona hotels for $21.3 million.
As for buying hotels, Sunstone said it plans to be “selective.”
“We are seeing a strong pipeline of attractive opportunities in a highly competitive acquisition environment,” said Gary Stougaard, the company’s chief investment officer, in a statement.
For the current quarter, Sunstone projected that its revenue per available room could come in up to 8% higher than a year ago. In the first quarter of 2004, revenue per available room grew by 7.5%.
EBITDA for the quarter could be $26 million to $29 million, the company said.
