RHP - Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2022 Results

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Oct. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP), a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust (“REIT”) that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and leading entertainment experiences, today reported financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.

Third Quarter 2022 Highlights and Recent Developments:

• The Company generated net income available to common shareholders of $45.2 million or $0.79 per diluted share, achieving two consecutive post-pandemic quarters of profitability.
• Despite 5.6 fewer points of occupancy compared to Q3 2019, the Company’s Hospitality segment achieved revenue of $390.6 million, a record for any third quarter, driven by continued strength in leisure room rate and outside the room spending by groups.
• The Hospitality segment reported a third quarter record in operating income of $88.9 million, operating income margin of 22.8%, Hospitality Adjusted EBITDAre of $136.7 million, and Hospitality Adjusted EBITDAre margin of 35.0%.
• Strength in leisure demand supported an all-time record leisure average daily rate (ADR) of $288, an increase of 14.6% compared to Q3 2021 and 42.0% compared to Q3 2019.
• During the quarter, the Company booked over 614,000 gross advanced group room nights for all future years, at an ADR of $252, an increase of 16.8% over Q3 2021 ADR for future bookings and 24.9% above Q3 2019 ADR for future bookings.
• Subsequent to quarter end, the Company announced Chairman and CEO Colin Reed will transition to Executive Chairman, and the Board has appointed Mark Fioravanti to President and CEO, effective January 1, 2023.
• The Company reinstated a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share paid on October 17, 2022.
• Based on strength of Q3 2022 financial results and confidence in the remainder of 2022, the Company increases its consolidated Full Year 2022 outlook.

Colin Reed, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ryman Hospitality Properties, said, “Our hotel business again set multiple records in the third quarter, eclipsing marks set in the second quarter of this year. These results demonstrate not only the broad strength of our business, but also the value of the strategic investments we made over the past several years, including those we made during the pandemic. The rebound of group travel, alongside continued healthy leisure demand, validates our business model, and has allowed us to achieve strong ADR for the year through the third quarter, mitigating increasing costs in the current inflationary environment. We are equally pleased with spending outside of the room, as our food and beverage business delivered favorable results across all our Gaylord Hotel properties. We are excited with the quality of our forward book of group business and expect this momentum to continue through the fourth quarter.”

Third Quarter 2022 Results (as compared to Third Quarter 2021):

Note: For the Company’s definitions of Adjusted EBITDA re , Adjusted EBITDA re margin, Adjusted EBITDA re , excluding noncontrolling interest in consolidated joint venture, Adjusted EBITDA re , excluding noncontrolling interest in consolidated joint venture margin, FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders, and Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders, as well as a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure Adjusted EBITDA re to Net Income/(Loss) and a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measure Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders to Net Income/(Loss), see “Non-GAAP Financial Measures,” “EBITDA re , Adjusted EBITDA re and Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Definition,” “Adjusted EBITDA re Margin and Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Margin Definition” “FFO, Adjusted FFO, and Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders Definition” and “Supplemental Financial Results” below.

Hospitality Segment

Note: For the Company’s definitions of Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) and Total Revenue Per Available Room (Total RevPAR), see “Calculation of RevPAR, Total RevPAR, and Occupancy” below. Property-level results and operating metrics for third quarter 2022 are presented in greater detail below and under “Supplemental Financial Results—Hospitality Segment Adjusted EBITDA re Reconciliations and Operating Metrics,” which includes a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures Hospitality Adjusted EBITDA re to Hospitality Operating Income/(Loss), and property-level Adjusted EBITDA re to property-level Operating Income/(Loss) for each of the hotel properties in the Hospitality segment.

Hospitality Segment Highlights

• Hotel occupancy was 71.5% in Q3 2022, compared to 54.5% in Q3 2021 and 77.1% in Q3 2019, as the segment reports substantial year-over-year growth in occupancy from 2021.
• All hotels set third quarter revenue records and four of the five hotels set Adjusted EBITDA re records, despite overall occupancy being 5.6 points lower than Q3 2019.
• Gaylord National’s record third quarter revenue and Adjusted EBITDA re performance was aided by our investments in reconcepting food and beverage outlets, which helped drive stronger food and beverage margins.
• Gaylord Rockies reported record operating income of $21.0 million and occupancy of 86.9%, an all-time quarterly record for any of our properties, which led to its highest total revenue and Adjusted EBITDA re quarter of $77.3 million and $34.7 million, respectively, since opening in December 2018.
• Room night production remained strong in the third quarter as new definite ADR for future bookings made in the quarter was an all-time record and revenue for future bookings made in the quarter was a third quarter record.
  

Entertainment Segment

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, the Company reported the following:

Reed continued, “Our Entertainment segment continues to deliver solid results, as revenue, segment operating income and Adjusted EBITDA re for the third quarter all exceeded third quarter 2019, even excluding the assets we acquired and developed after 2019 (Circle, our new Ole Red assets, and our recently acquired Block 21 assets). We remain enthusiastic about the future of this business in combination with the assets of Block 21 and are actively engaged with our partners at Atairos and NBCUniversal to propel OEG into its next phase of growth.”

Corporate and Other Segment

For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, the Company reported the following:

2022 Guidance

The Company is raising its consolidated guidance for full year 2022 based on current information as of October 31, 2022. The Company does not expect to update the guidance provided below before next quarter’s earnings release. However, the Company may update its full business outlook or any portion thereof at any time for any reason.

Note: For reconciliations of Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA re guidance to Net Income and segment-level Adjusted EBITDA re to segment-level Operating Income, see “Reconciliation of Forward-Looking Statements” below.

Reed concluded, “Despite the current economic uncertainty, our collection of unique hotel properties and entertainment venues continues to generate strong interest and financial results from group and leisure travelers. The visibility that the contractual nature of our core hospitality business provides is a differentiating strength that gives us the confidence and opportunity to continue to invest in new and exciting offerings for our guests. Given our strong performance in the third quarter, and our confidence in the remainder of the year, we are again raising our full year 2022 guidance to a consolidated Adjusted EBITDA re midpoint of $538.5 million, a $12.5 million increase over our previously updated guidance midpoint given in August. We believe that our business is uniquely positioned for success and look forward to continuing to execute the long-term strategy of our Company.”

Leadership Transition Update
On October 11, 2022, the Company announced Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Colin Reed will transition to Executive Chairman of the Company after more than 21 years as CEO. The Company’s Board of Directors has appointed President Mark Fioravanti to succeed Reed as Chief Executive Officer, under the title of President and Chief Executive Officer, effective January 1, 2023.   Reed’s role as Executive Chairman will include his responsibilities as Executive Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors and as Chairman of the OEG Board of Directors. Reed will also focus on working with OEG strategic investor Atairos and with NBCUniversal to unlock opportunities for value creation; advancing the Company’s ESG and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals; and community and government affairs. Reed will continue his role with artist and shareholder relations alongside Fioravanti.

Dividend Update
On September 6, 2022, the Company announced that it declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share, which was paid on October 17, 2022, to stockholders of record as of September 30, 2022. The Board of Directors approved the reinstatement of this dividend payment, which represents Ryman’s first quarterly cash dividend since payments were suspended following the Q1 2020 dividend paid in April 2020. Due to the opportunities the Company sees to allocate capital across its portfolio, the Company adopted an interim policy of a minimum annual dividend amount of 100% of REIT taxable income, replacing the former dividend policy of the greater of 100% of REIT taxable income or 50% of AFFO less maintenance capital expenditures. The Company’s interim dividend policy is subject to the Board of Directors’ future determinations as to the amount of quarterly distributions and the timing thereof.

Balance Sheet/Liquidity Update
As of September 30, 2022, the Company had total debt outstanding of $2,863.1 million, net of unamortized deferred financing costs, and unrestricted cash of $224.7 million. As of September 30, 2022, there were no amounts drawn under the revolving credit lines of the Company’s credit facility or the OEG credit facility, and the lending banks had issued $10.4 million in letters of credit, which left $754.6 million of availability for borrowing under the two revolving credit lines.

Earnings Call Information
Ryman Hospitality Properties will hold a conference call to discuss this release tomorrow, November 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET. Investors can listen to the conference call over the Internet at www.rymanhp.com. To listen to the live call, please go to the Investor Relations section of the website (Investor Relations/Presentations, Earnings and Webcasts) at least 15 minutes prior to the call to register and download any necessary audio software. For those who cannot listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available shortly after the call and will be available for at least 30 days.

About Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust that specializes in upscale convention center resorts and leading entertainment experiences. RHP’s core holdings, Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center; Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center; and Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, are five of the top ten largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space. Our Hospitality segment is comprised of these convention center resorts operating under the Gaylord Hotels brand, along with two adjacent ancillary hotels, which are managed by Marriott International and represent a combined total of 10,412 rooms and more than 2.8 million square feet of total indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations across the country. RHP also owns a 70% controlling ownership interest in Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), which is composed of entities owning a growing collection of iconic and emerging country music brands, including the Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium, WSM 650 AM, Ole Red and Circle, a country lifestyle media network RHP owns in a joint venture with Gray Television, Nashville-area attractions managed by Marriott, and Block 21, a mixed-use entertainment, lodging, office and retail complex, including the W Austin Hotel and the ACL Live at Moody Theater, located in downtown Austin, Texas. RHP operates OEG as its Entertainment segment, in a taxable REIT subsidiary, and its results are consolidated in the Company’s financial results. Visit RymanHP.com for more information.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements as to RHP’s beliefs and expectations of the outcome of future events that are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of our business, expected recovery of travel, leisure and group demand from periods affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the expected effects of COVID-19 on our results of operations, our liquidity, recovery of group business to pre-pandemic levels, anticipated business levels and anticipated financial results for the Company during future periods, the Company’s expectations for OEG including Block 21 and the Atairos investment, and other business or operational issues. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. These include the risks and uncertainties associated with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on us and the hospitality and entertainment industries generally, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for travel, leisure and group business (including government-imposed restrictions), levels of consumer confidence in the safety of travel and group gathering as a result of COVID-19, the pace of recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic, economic conditions affecting the hospitality business generally, the geographic concentration of the Company’s hotel properties, business levels at the Company’s hotels, the effects of inflation on the Company’s business and on its customers, including group business at its hotels, the Company’s ability to remain qualified as a REIT for federal income tax purposes, the Company’s ability to execute its strategic goals as a REIT, the Company’s ability to generate cash flows to support dividends, our Board of Directors’ ability to modify our dividend policy, including the frequency and amount of any dividend we may pay, the Company’s ability to borrow funds pursuant to its credit agreements, and the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could affect the integration of Block 21 or the strategic position of OEG after the Atairos investment. Other factors that could cause operating and financial results to differ are described in the filings made from time to time by the Company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and include the risk factors and other risks and uncertainties described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and subsequent filings. The Company does not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to forward-looking statements made by it to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof or the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Additional Information
This release should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K. Copies of our reports are available on our website at no expense at www.rymanhp.com and through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval System (“EDGAR”) at www.sec.gov.

Calculation of RevPAR, Total RevPAR, and Occupancy
We calculate revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) for our hotels by dividing room revenue by room nights available to guests for the period. Room nights available to guests include nights the hotels are closed. We calculate total revenue per available room (“Total RevPAR”) for our hotels by dividing the sum of room revenue, food & beverage, and other ancillary services revenue by room nights available to guests for the period. Rooms out of service for renovation are included in room nights available. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, and 2021, the calculation of RevPAR and Total RevPAR in our tabular presentations has not been changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting hotel closures and is consistent with prior periods. The closure of Gaylord National, which reopened July 1, 2021, resulted in significantly lower performance for periods of closure. Occupancy figures reflect an additional 302 rooms available at Gaylord Palms beginning in June 2021. Hospitality metrics do not include the results of the W Austin, which is included in the Entertainment segment.

Calculation of GAAP Margin Figures
We calculate Net Income/(Loss) available to common shareholders margin by dividing GAAP consolidated Net Income available to common shareholders by GAAP consolidated Total Revenue. We calculate consolidated, segment or property-level Operating Income Margin by dividing consolidated, segment or property-level GAAP Operating Income/(Loss) by consolidated, segment or property-level GAAP Revenue.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
We present the following non-GAAP financial measures we believe are useful to investors as key measures of our operating performance:

EBITDAre , Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted EBITDAre , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Definition
We calculate EBITDA re, which is defined by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“NAREIT”) in its September 2017 white paper as Net Income (calculated in accordance with GAAP) plus interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization, gains or losses on the disposition of depreciated property (including gains or losses on change in control), impairment write-downs of depreciated property and of investments in unconsolidated affiliates caused by a decrease in the value of depreciated property or the affiliate, and adjustments to reflect the entity’s share of EBITDA re of unconsolidated affiliates.
Adjusted EBITDA re is then calculated as EBITDA re , plus to the extent the following adjustments occurred during the periods presented:

• preopening costs;
• non-cash lease expense;
• equity-based compensation expense;
• impairment charges that do not meet the NAREIT definition above;
• credit losses on held-to-maturity securities;
• any transaction costs of acquisitions;
• interest income on bonds;
• loss on extinguishment of debt;
• pension settlement charges;
• pro rata Adjusted EBITDA re from unconsolidated joint venture; and
• any other adjustments we have identified herein.
  

We then exclude noncontrolling interests in consolidated joint venture to calculate Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture.

We use EBITDA re , Adjusted EBITDA re and Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture and segment or property-level EBITDA re and Adjusted EBITDA re to evaluate our operating performance. We believe that the presentation of these non-GAAP metrics provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance and debt leverage metrics, and that the presentation of these non-GAAP metrics, when combined with the primary GAAP presentation of Net Income or Operating Income, as applicable, is beneficial to an investor’s complete understanding of our operating performance. We make additional adjustments to EBITDA re when evaluating our performance because we believe that presenting Adjusted EBITDA re and Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance and debt leverage metrics.

Adjusted EBITDAre Margin and Adjusted EBITDAre, Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Margin Definition
We calculate consolidated Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Margin by dividing consolidated Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture by GAAP consolidated Total Revenue. We calculate consolidated, segment or property-level Adjusted EBITDA re Margin by dividing consolidated, segment-, or property-level Adjusted EBITDA re by consolidated, segment-, or property-level GAAP Revenue. We believe Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture Margin is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance because this non-GAAP financial measure helps investors evaluate and compare the results of our operations from period to period by presenting a ratio showing the quantitative relationship between Adjusted EBITDA re , Excluding Noncontrolling Interest in Consolidated Joint Venture and GAAP consolidated Total Revenue or segment or property-level GAAP Revenue, as applicable.

FFO, Adjusted FFO, and Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders Definition
We calculate FFO, which definition is clarified by NAREIT in its December 2018 white paper as Net Income (calculated in accordance with GAAP) excluding depreciation and amortization (excluding amortization of deferred financing costs and debt discounts), gains and losses from the sale of certain real estate assets, gains and losses from a change in control, impairment write-downs of certain real estate assets and investments in entities when the impairment is directly attributable to decreases in the value of depreciated real estate held by the entity, income (loss) from consolidated joint venture attributable to noncontrolling interest, and pro rata adjustments for unconsolidated joint venture.
To calculate Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders, we then exclude, to the extent the following adjustments occurred during the periods presented:

• right-of-use asset amortization;
• impairment charges that do not meet the NAREIT definition above;
• write-offs of deferred financing costs;
• amortization of debt discounts or premiums and amortization of deferred financing costs;
• (gains) losses on extinguishment of debt
• non-cash lease expense;
• credit loss on held-to-maturity securities;
• pension settlement charges;
• additional pro rata adjustments from unconsolidated joint venture;
• (gains) losses on other assets;
• transaction costs on acquisitions;
• deferred income tax expense (benefit); and
• any other adjustments we have identified herein.
  

To calculate Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders (excluding maintenance capex), we then exclude FF&E reserve for managed properties and maintenance capital expenditures for non-managed properties. FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders and Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders and Adjusted FFO available to common shareholders and unit holders (excluding maintenance capex) exclude the ownership portion joint ventures not controlled or owned by the Company.

We believe that the presentation of these non-GAAP financial measures provides useful information to investors regarding the performance of our ongoing operations because each presents a measure of our operations without regard to specified non-cash items such as real estate depreciation and amortization, gain or loss on sale of assets and certain other items, which we believe are not indicative of the performance of our underlying hotel properties. We believe that these items are more representative of our asset base than our ongoing operations. We also use these non-GAAP financial measures as measures in determining our results after considering the impact of our capital structure.

We caution investors that non-GAAP financial measures we present may not be comparable to similar measures disclosed by other companies, because not all companies calculate these non-GAAP measures in the same manner. The non-GAAP financial measures we present, and any related per share measures, should not be considered as alternative measures of our Net Income (Loss), operating performance, cash flow or liquidity. These non-GAAP financial measures may include funds that may not be available for our discretionary use due to functional requirements to conserve funds for capital expenditures and property acquisitions and other commitments and uncertainties. Although we believe that these non-GAAP financial measures can enhance an investor’s understanding of our results of operations, these non-GAAP financial measures, when viewed individually, are not necessarily better indicators of any trend as compared to GAAP measures such as Net Income (Loss), Operating Income (Loss), or cash flow from operations.