Choice Hotels Reports First Quarter 2009 Diluted EPS of $0.27, Domestic Unit Growth of 5.7%

SILVER SPRING, Md., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Choice Hotels International, Inc., (NYSE: CHH) today reported the following highlights for first quarter 2009: -- Diluted earnings per share ("EPS") for first quarter 2009 were $0.27,
compared to $0.29 for the same period of the prior year.
-- Earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation ("EBITDA") were $29.9
million for the three months ended March 31, 2009, compared to $36.1
million for the same period of 2008. Operating income for the three
months ended March 31, 2009 was $27.8 million compared to $34.1
million for the same period of 2008.
-- Domestic unit and room growth increased 5.7 percent and 5.6 percent,
respectively, from March 31, 2008.
-- Domestic system-wide revenue per available room ("RevPAR") declined
10.3% for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of
2008.
-- The effective royalty rate increased 8 basis points to 4.26% for the
three months ended March 31, 2009 compared to 4.18% for the same
period of the prior year.
-- Franchising revenues declined 14% from $59.4 million for the three
months ended March 31, 2008 compared to $51.0 million for the same
period of 2009. Total revenues for the three months ended March 31,
2009 declined 11% compared to the same period of 2008.
-- New domestic hotel franchise contracts for the three months ended
March 31, 2009 declined to 60 compared to 133 contracts executed in
the same period of the prior year.
-- The number of domestic hotels under construction, awaiting conversion
or approved for development declined 9% from March 31, 2008 to 896
hotels representing 70,381 rooms; the worldwide pipeline declined 7%
from March 31, 2008 to 1,007 hotels representing 79,495 rooms.

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