Hyatt Hotels Updates 2018 Outlook

(RTTNews) - Hyatt Hotels Corp. (H) announced, for fiscal 2018, net income is now expected to be approximately $508 million to $550 million, compared to previous expectation of $495 million to $553 million. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be approximately $775 million to $785 million, compared to previous expectation of approximately $765 million to $785 million. Comparable system-wide RevPAR is expected to increase approximately 3.0% to 4.0% compared to previous expectation of 2.0% to 3.5%.

Also, for 2018, the company expects to return approximately $800 million to shareholders, compared to a previous expectation of at least $700 million, through a combination of share repurchases and cash dividends on its common stock.

For the second-quarter, adjusted net income attributable to Hyatt was $84 million, or $0.72 per diluted share, compared to $65 million, or $0.51 per diluted share, last year. Comparable system-wide RevPAR increased 4.0%, including an increase of 4.1% at comparable owned and leased hotels. Excluding the impact of Easter holiday timing, comparable system-wide and comparable owned and leased RevPAR increased 3.7%.

The company's board has declared a cash dividend of $0.15 per share for the third quarter of 2018. The dividend is payable on September 20, 2018 to Class A and Class B stockholders of record as of September 6, 2018.