Wyndham Hotels & Resorts Reports Strong Fourth Quarter Results With Record Openings, Retention and System Growth
Increases Quarterly Dividend by 9%; Reiterates Full-Year 2024 Outlook
PARSIPPANY, N.J. – Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) today announced results for the three months and year ended December 31, 2023. Highlights include:
- System-wide rooms grew organically by 3.5% year-over-year, a record high.
- Opened a record 66,000 organic rooms, representing a year-over-year increase of 3%.
- Global retention rate – including all terminations – improved another 30 basis points to a record 95.6%.
- Development pipeline grew 1% sequentially and by 10% year-over-year to a record 240,000 rooms.
- Grew ECHO Suites pipeline nearly 60% year-over-year with 98 new contract signings.
- Signed 766 contracts for legacy brands, an increase of 8% year-over-year.
- Fourth quarter diluted earnings per share of $0.60 and net income of $50 million; adjusted diluted EPS of $0.91, adjusted net income of $75 million and adjusted EBITDA of $154 million.
- Full-year 2023 diluted EPS of $3.41 and net income of $289 million; adjusted diluted EPS of $4.01, adjusted net income of $341 million and adjusted EBITDA of $659 million.
- Net cash provided by operating activities of $376 million and free cash flow of $339 million for the full-year.
- Returned $515 million to shareholders for the full-year through $397 million of share repurchases and quarterly cash dividends of $0.35 per share.
- Board of Directors recently authorized a 9% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.38 per share beginning with the dividend expected to be declared in first quarter 2024.
We are tremendously proud to report fourth quarter results that demonstrate the continued success of our global strategy and our accelerating momentum. Despite the distraction, uncertainty and misperceptions caused by Choice and their slanted and constant communications to our franchisee base, room openings accelerated and our global development pipeline grew by 10% to an all-time high of 240,000 rooms. Our team opened 27% more rooms than last year in the fourth quarter and we welcomed 500 new hotels to our system in 2023. This, when combined with our improving franchisee engagement and record retention rate, drove the best organic system growth we’ve ever achieved. We grew comparable adjusted EBITDA by 6% and returned over half a billion dollars to our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. We are confident in the continued effectiveness of our growth strategy and see exceptional value-creation opportunities in the years ahead. Geoff Ballotti, president and chief executive officer
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About Wyndham Hotels & Resorts
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: WH) is the world's largest hotel franchising company by the number of properties, with approximately 9,200 hotels across over 95 countries on six continents. Through its network of nearly 885,000 rooms appealing to the everyday traveler, Wyndham commands a leading presence in the economy and midscale segments of the lodging industry. The Company operates a portfolio of 25 hotel brands, including Super 8®, Days Inn®, Ramada®, Microtel®, La Quinta®, Baymont®, Wingate®, AmericInn®, Hawthorn Suites®, Trademark Collection® and Wyndham®. The Company's award-winning Wyndham Rewards loyalty program offers approximately 110 million enrolled members the opportunity to redeem points at thousands of hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally. For more information, visit wyndhamhotels.com.
About Wyndham Rewards
Named the number one hotel rewards program by readers of USA TODAY, Wyndham Rewards® is the world's most generous rewards program with more than 50,000 hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals worldwide.
Designed for the everyday traveller, members earn a guaranteed 1,000 points with every qualified stay and may redeem points for a wide range of rewards, including free nights at any of the approximately 9,100 hotels or tens of thousands of vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally through affiliation with Wyndham Destinations and others. Wyndham Rewards has over 103 million enrolled members globally. Join for free today at www.wyndhamrewards.com. You've earned this. ®