# Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE) FY 2023 MD&A

Verbatim Item 7 Management's Discussion and Analysis from Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc.'s 10-K for fiscal year 2023.

SEC filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1418121/000095017024018793/aple-20231231.htm
Accession: 0000950170-24-018793
Filing date: 2024-02-22
Report date: 2023-12-31
Extracted structurally from real Item 7 body heading to real Item 7A/8 boundary.
Confidence: high

Company profile: /company/APLE/
All MD&A years: /company/APLE/mda/
Previous year: /company/APLE/mda/fy2022/ (FY 2022)
Next year: /company/APLE/mda/fy2024/ (FY 2024)

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with Item 8, the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto, the introduction of Part I regarding “Forward-Looking Statements,” and Item 1A, “Risk Factors” appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Overview

The Company is a Virginia corporation that has elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The Company is self-advised and invests in income-producing real estate, primarily in the lodging sector, in the U.S. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned 225 hotels with an aggregate of 29,900 rooms located in urban, high-end suburban and developing markets throughout 38 states, including two hotels with a total of 248 rooms classified as held for sale, which were both sold to an unrelated party in February 2024. The Company also owns one property leased to third parties. Substantially all of the Company’s hotels operate under Marriott or Hilton brands. The hotels are operated and managed under separate management agreements with 16 hotel management companies, none of which are affiliated with the Company. The Company’s common shares are listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “APLE.”

Recent Hotel Portfolio Activities

The Company continually monitors market conditions and attempts to maximize shareholder value by investing in properties that it believes provide superior value over the long term. Consistent with this strategy and the Company’s focus on investing in rooms-focused hotels, in 2023, the Company acquired six existing hotels and one free-standing parking garage for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $289.8 million: a 154-room Courtyard in Cleveland, Ohio, a 175-room Courtyard in Salt Lake City, Utah, a 159-room Hyatt House in Salt Lake City, Utah, a free-standing parking garage which serves both of the Salt Lake City, Utah hotels and the surrounding area, a 146-room Residence Inn in Renton, Washington, a 192-room Embassy Suites in South Jordan, Utah and a 299-room SpringHill Suites in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Company utilized its available cash on hand, net proceeds from sale of shares under the ATM program and borrowings under its Revolving Credit Facility to fund the acquisitions and plans to utilize its available cash or borrowings under its unsecured credit facilities for any future acquisitions.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had separate outstanding contracts for the potential purchase of two hotels, consisting of one hotel in Madison, Wisconsin and one hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, for a total combined purchase price of approximately $177.5 million. Both hotels are under development, with the hotel in Madison, Wisconsin currently planned to be completed and opened for business in mid-2024 and the Nashville, Tennessee hotel currently planned to be completed and opened for business in late 2025, at which respective times the Company expects to complete the purchases of these hotels. Although the Company is working towards acquiring these hotels, in each case there are a number of conditions to closing that have not yet been satisfied, and there can be no assurance that closings on these hotels will occur under the outstanding purchase contracts. If the sellers meet all of the conditions to closing, the Company is obligated to specifically perform under the applicable purchase contracts and acquire these hotels. If the closings occur, the Company plans to utilize its available cash or borrowings under its unsecured credit facilities available at closing to purchase the properties under contract.

For its existing portfolio, the Company monitors each property’s profitability, market conditions and capital requirements and attempts to maximize shareholder value by disposing of properties when it believes that superior value can be provided from the sale of the property. The Company did not dispose of any properties in the year ended December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had an outstanding contract to sell two of its hotels, which both sold to an unrelated party for a combined gross sales price of approximately $33.5 million in February 2024. The net proceeds from the sale of both hotels were used for general corporate purposes.

New York Independent Boutique Hotel Lease

During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company entered into an operating lease for an initial 15-year term with a third-party hotel operator at its independent boutique hotel in New York, New York for all hotel operations of the hotel’s 210 hotel rooms. Lease revenue from this property is recorded in other revenue in the Company’s consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income. As a result of the lease agreement, this property is excluded from the Company’s hotel and room counts effective May 2023 and is considered a non-hotel property through the end of the lease term.

See Note 2 titled “Investment in Real Estate” and Note 3 titled “Assets Held for Sale and Dispositions” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional information concerning these transactions.

36

Hotel Operations

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned 225 hotels, including two properties classified as held for sale, with a total of 29,900 rooms as compared to 220 hotels with a total of 28,983 rooms as of December 31, 2022. Results of operations are included only for the period of ownership for hotels acquired or disposed of during all periods presented. During 2023, the Company acquired six hotels and did not dispose of any hotels. During 2022, the Company acquired two hotels and sold one hotel. Results of the hotel operations for the Company’s independent boutique hotel in New York, New York are included only for the period prior to the lease agreement becoming effective in May 2023. See further discussion in Note 2 titled “Investments in Real Estate” and Note 3 titled “Assets Held for Sale and Dispositions” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. As a result, the comparability of results for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, as discussed below, is also impacted by these transactions.

In evaluating financial condition and operating performance, the most important indicators on which the Company focuses are revenue measurements, such as average occupancy, ADR and RevPAR, and expenses, such as hotel operating expenses, general and administrative expenses and other expenses described below. RevPAR and operating results may be impacted by regional and local economies and local regulations as well as changes in lodging demand due to macroeconomic factors including inflationary pressures, higher energy prices or a recessionary environment.

The following is a summary of the results from operations of the Company’s hotels for their respective periods of ownership by the Company.

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

(1)
See reconciliation of Adjusted Hotel EBITDA to net income in “Non-GAAP Financial Measures” below.

37

Comparable Hotels Operating Results

The following table reflects certain operating statistics for the Company’s 223 hotels owned and held for use as of December 31, 2023. The Company defines metrics from Comparable Hotels as results generated by the 223 hotels owned and held for use as of the end of the reporting period. For the hotels acquired during the reporting periods shown, the Company has included, as applicable, results of those hotels for periods prior to the Company’s ownership using information provided by the properties’ prior owners at the time of acquisition and not adjusted by the Company. This information has not been audited, either for the periods owned or prior to ownership by the Company. For dispositions and assets held for sale, results have been excluded for the Company’s period of ownership.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

Same Store Operating Results

The following table reflects certain operating statistics for the 207 hotels owned and held for use by the Company as of January 1, 2021 and during the entirety of the reporting periods being compared (“Same Store Hotels”). This information has not been audited.

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

As discussed above, hotel performance is impacted by many factors, including the economic conditions in the U.S. as well as each individual locality. The Company’s Comparable Hotels and Same Store Hotels revenue and operating results improved during the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, which is consistent with the overall lodging industry. Hotel occupancy was negatively impacted in many markets by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 during the first quarter of 2022, contributing to an increase of the Company’s Comparable Hotels and Same Store Hotels RevPAR of approximately 7.0% and 6.8%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Company’s results were negatively impacted by COVID-19, contributing to an increase of the Company’s Comparable Hotels and Same Store Hotels RevPAR of approximately 30.5% and 29.3%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company expects low-to-mid single digit RevPAR growth and a slight increase in operating results for its Comparable Hotels for 2024 as compared to 2023, which is comparable to broader industry expectations. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company’s hotels in general have shown results that have been consistent with or exceeded industry, brand and chain scale averages.

Results of Operations

A discussion regarding the Company’s results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2023 compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 is presented below. A discussion regarding the results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to the year ended December 31, 2021 can be found under the section titled “Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on February 21, 2023, which is incorporated herein by reference and which is available free of charge on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and in the Investor Information section of the Company’s website at www.applehospitalityreit.com.

Revenues

The Company’s principal source of revenue is hotel revenue consisting of room, food and beverage, and other related revenue. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company had total revenue of $1.3 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively, Comparable Hotels achieved combined average occupancy of 74.2% and

38

72.6%, ADR of $156.55 and $149.62 and RevPAR of $116.23 and $108.67. ADR is calculated as room revenue divided by the number of rooms sold, and RevPAR is calculated as occupancy multiplied by ADR.

Compared to 2022, the Company experienced increases in ADR and occupancy in 2023, resulting in an increase of 7.0% in RevPAR, for Comparable Hotels. Revenue growth in 2023 compared to 2022 was led by continued strength in leisure transient and small group demand, with increased demand from corporate business. Additionally, occupancy during the first quarter of 2022 was negatively impacted in many markets by the Omicron variant of COVID-19. For the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company’s suburban markets continued to see strong demand with urban markets recovering more meaningfully as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. The Company expects revenue trends to continue, however, future year-over-year revenue growth will likely be at a lower rate given the favorable comparison between 2023 and 2022 due, in large part, to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 negatively impacting the first quarter of 2022. Furthermore, future revenues could be negatively impacted by, among other things, historical seasonal trends, travel-related health concerns, deterioration of consumer sentiment, a recessionary macroeconomic environment or inflationary pressures.

Hotel Operating Expense

Hotel operating expense consists of direct room operating expense, hotel administrative expense, sales and marketing expense, utilities expense, repair and maintenance expense, franchise fees and management fees. For the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, hotel operating expense totaled $780.7 million and $710.5 million, respectively, or 58.1% and 57.4% of total revenue for each respective year.

The increase in hotel operating expense for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, was due to increased labor, repairs and maintenance and utility costs driven by increased staff and inflationary pressures throughout the overall economy. Occupancy increased for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, in part due to negative impacts from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 throughout most markets during the first quarter of 2022. Adding staff to meet increased demand has been challenging, and the Company’s hotels have often done so at higher wage rates or with more expensive contract labor as compared to 2022. Likewise, broader inflationary pressures throughout the overall economy and global tensions have driven shortages and cost increases for materials and supplies such as food and equipment. The Company continues to work with its management companies to realize operational efficiencies and mitigate the impact of cost pressures resulting from inflation and staffing challenges. The Company will continue to evaluate and work with its management companies to implement adjustments to the hotel operating model in response to continued changes in the operating environment and guest preferences, including evaluating staffing levels at its hotels to maximize efficiency.

Property Taxes, Insurance and Other Expense

Property taxes, insurance and other expense for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 totaled $79.3 million and $72.9 million, respectively, or 5.9% of total revenue for each respective year. The increase in property taxes, insurance, and other expense was primarily due to increases in insurance premiums and increases in property taxes in certain locations due to the reassessment of property values by localities related to the improved economy, partially offset by decreases at other locations due to successful appeals of tax assessments. The Company will continue to aggressively appeal tax assessments in certain jurisdictions in an attempt to minimize tax increases, as warranted.

General and Administrative Expense

General and administrative expense for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $47.4 million and $42.5 million, respectively, or 3.5% and 3.4% of total revenue, respectively. The principal components of general and administrative expense are payroll and related benefit costs, executive incentive compensation, legal fees, accounting fees and reporting expenses. The increase in general and administrative expense in 2023 as compared to 2022 was primarily due to improved performance under the Company’s executive incentive compensation plan which resulted in increased compensation expense as well as increased payroll and related benefit costs.

Loss on Impairment of Depreciable Real Estate Assets

Loss on impairment of depreciable real estate assets was approximately $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, consisting of impairment losses at two hotel properties identified by the Company in the fourth quarter of 2023. Loss on impairment of depreciable real estate assets was $26.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, consisting of impairment losses at two hotel properties identified by the Company in the fourth quarter of 2022. See Note 2, titled “Investment in Real Estate” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional information concerning these impairment losses.

39

Depreciation and Amortization Expense

Depreciation and amortization expense for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $183.2 million and $181.7 million, respectively. Depreciation and amortization expense primarily represents expense of the Company’s hotel buildings and related improvements, and associated personal property (furniture, fixtures, and equipment) for their respective periods owned. The increase was primarily due to the purchase of six hotels in 2023 and two hotels in the fourth quarter of 2022, as well as renovations completed throughout both 2023 and 2022, partially offset by the sale of one hotel in the third quarter of 2022.

Interest and Other Expense, net

Interest and other expense, net for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $68.9 million and $59.7 million, respectively, and is net of approximately $1.5 million and $1.3 million, respectively, of interest capitalized associated with renovation projects.

Interest expense related to the Company’s debt instruments for the year ended December 31, 2023 increased compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 as a result of higher average borrowings associated with variable-rate debt and higher average interest rates on the Company’s variable-rate debt due to the high inflationary environment within the current economy. See Note 4 titled “Debt” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional discussion of the Company’s amended unsecured credit facilities. The Company anticipates interest expense will increase in 2024 as a result of higher average market interest rates over the next twelve months on the Company’s variable-rate debt as interest rates are expected to plateau and then start to decrease at a slower rate compared to how quickly they increased throughout 2023. In addition, the proportion of fixed-rate debt will decrease in 2024, as the Company has six interest rate swaps that mature in 2024, resulting in a decrease in the amount of variable-rate debt that is fixed by interest rate swaps, or if the interest rate swaps are replaced with new agreements, they are expected to be at higher rates.

Income tax expense

Income tax expense for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 was $1.1 million and $1.9 million, respectively. The decrease is primarily due to state income taxes that were higher than normal in several states in 2022 as a result of temporary limitations placed on the application of prior net operating losses.

40

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

The Company considers the following non-GAAP financial measures useful to investors as key supplemental measures of its operating performance: Funds from Operations (“FFO”), Modified Funds from Operations (“MFFO”), Earnings Before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (“EBITDA”), Earnings Before Interest, Income Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization for Real Estate (“EBITDAre”), Adjusted EBITDAre (“Adjusted EBITDAre”) and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA. These non-GAAP financial measures should be considered along with, but not as alternatives to, net income (loss), cash flow from operations or any other operating GAAP measure. FFO, MFFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA are not necessarily indicative of funds available to fund the Company’s cash needs, including its ability to make cash distributions. Although FFO, MFFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA, as calculated by the Company, may not be comparable to FFO, MFFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA, as reported by other companies that do not define such terms exactly as the Company defines such terms, the Company believes these supplemental measures are useful to investors when comparing the Company’s results between periods and with other REITs.

FFO and MFFO

The Company calculates and presents FFO in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“Nareit”), which defines FFO as net income (loss) (computed in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains and losses from the sale of certain real estate assets (including gains and losses from change in control), extraordinary items as defined by GAAP, and the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, plus real estate related depreciation, amortization and impairments, and adjustments for unconsolidated affiliates. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values instead have historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most real estate industry investors consider FFO to be helpful in evaluating a real estate company’s operations. The Company further believes that by excluding the effects of these items, FFO is useful to investors in comparing its operating performance between periods and between REITs that report FFO using the Nareit definition. FFO as presented by the Company is applicable only to its common shareholders, but does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common shareholders.

The Company calculates MFFO by further adjusting FFO for the exclusion of amortization of finance ground lease assets, amortization of favorable and unfavorable operating leases, net and non-cash straight-line operating ground lease expense, as these expenses do not reflect the underlying performance of the related hotels. The Company presents MFFO when evaluating its performance because it believes that it provides further useful supplemental information to investors regarding its ongoing operating performance.

The following table reconciles the Company’s GAAP net income to FFO and MFFO for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands).

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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

41

EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA

EBITDA is a commonly used measure of performance in many industries and is defined as net income (loss) excluding interest, income taxes, depreciation and amortization. The Company believes EBITDA is useful to investors because it helps the Company and its investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of the Company by removing the impact of its capital structure (primarily interest expense) and its asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization). In addition, certain covenants included in the agreements governing the Company’s indebtedness use EBITDA, as defined in the specific credit agreement, as a measure of financial compliance.

In addition to EBITDA, the Company also calculates and presents EBITDAre in accordance with standards established by Nareit, which defines EBITDAre as EBITDA, excluding gains and losses from the sale of certain real estate assets (including gains and losses from change in control), plus real estate related impairments, and adjustments to reflect the entity’s share of EBITDAre of unconsolidated affiliates. The Company presents EBITDAre because it believes that it provides further useful information to investors in comparing its operating performance between periods and between REITs that report EBITDAre using the Nareit definition.

The Company also considers the exclusion of non-cash straight-line operating ground lease expense from EBITDAre useful, as this expense does not reflect the underlying performance of the related hotels (Adjusted EBITDAre).

The Company further excludes actual corporate-level general and administrative expense for the Company as well as Adjusted EBITDAre from its non-hotel property from Adjusted EBITDAre (Adjusted Hotel EBITDA) to isolate property-level operational performance over which the Company’s hotel operators have direct control. The Company believes Adjusted Hotel EBITDA provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding operating performance and it is used by management to measure the performance of the Company’s hotels and effectiveness of the operators of the hotels.

The following table reconciles the Company’s GAAP net income to EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDAre and Adjusted Hotel EBITDA for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 (in thousands).

[[GREPCENT_TABLE]]
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[[/GREPCENT_TABLE]]

(1)
Non-hotel property only includes the results of one hotel in New York, New York that is leased to a third-party hotel operator. This property’s Adjusted EBITDAre results are not included in Adjusted Hotel EBITDA starting in the second half of 2023.

Hotels Owned

As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned 225 hotels with an aggregate of 29,900 rooms located in 38 states, including two hotels with a total of 248 rooms classified as held for sale, which were both sold to an unrelated party in February 2024. See “Management and Franchise Agreements” in Part I, Item 1, Business, appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a table summarizing the number of hotels and rooms by brand. Refer to Part I, Item 2, of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for tables summarizing the number of hotels and rooms by state, and summarizing the location, brand, manager, date acquired or completed and number of rooms for each of the 225 hotels the Company owned as of December 31, 2023.

Related Parties

The Company has engaged in, and is expected to continue to engage in, transactions with related parties. These transactions cannot be construed to be at arm’s length, and the results of the Company’s operations may have been different if these transactions

42

were conducted with non-related parties. See Note 6, titled “Related Parties” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional information concerning the Company’s related party transactions.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Capital Resources

The Company’s principal short-term sources of liquidity are the operating cash flows generated from the Company’s properties and availability under its Revolving Credit Facility. Over the long term, the Company may receive proceeds from strategic additional secured and unsecured debt financing, dispositions of its hotel properties and offerings of the Company’s common shares, including pursuant to the ATM Program. Macroeconomic pressures, including inflation, increases in interest rates and general market uncertainty, could impact the Company’s ability to raise debt or equity capital to fund long-term liquidity requirements in a cost-effective manner.

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately $1.4 billion of total outstanding debt consisting of $283.0 million of mortgage debt and $1.1 billion outstanding under its credit facilities, excluding unamortized debt issuance costs and fair value adjustments. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had available corporate cash on hand of approximately $10.3 million, and unused borrowing capacity under its Revolving Credit Facility of approximately $650 million.

The credit agreements governing the unsecured credit facilities contain mandatory prepayment requirements, customary affirmative and negative covenants and events of default. The credit agreements require that the Company comply with various covenants, which include, among others, a minimum tangible net worth, maximum debt limits, minimum interest and fixed charge coverage ratios, and restrictions on certain investments. The Company was in compliance with the applicable covenants as of December 31, 2023.

On July 19, 2023, the Company entered into an amendment of its unsecured $225 million term loan facility, which extended the maturity date of the existing $50 million term loan by two years to August 2, 2025.

See Note 4 titled “Debt” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for a description of the Company’s debt instruments as of December 31, 2023 and a summary of the financial and restrictive covenants as defined in the credit agreements.

The Company has a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-262915) that was automatically effective upon filing on February 23, 2022. The Company may offer an indeterminate number or amount, as the case may be, of (1) common shares, no par value per share; (2) preferred shares, no par value per share; (3) depository shares representing the Company’s preferred shares; (4) warrants exercisable for the Company’s common shares, preferred shares or depository shares representing preferred shares; (5) rights to purchase common shares; and (6) unsecured senior or subordinate debt securities, all of which may be issued from time to time on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act.

On August 12, 2020, the Company entered into an equity distribution agreement pursuant to which the Company may sell, from time to time, up to an aggregate of $300 million of its common shares under the ATM Program under the Company’s prior shelf registration statement and the current shelf registration statement described above. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company sold approximately 12.8 million shares under its ATM Program at a weighted-average market sales price of approximately $17.05 per common share and received aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $218.6 million and proceeds net of offering costs, which included $2.6 million of commissions, of approximately $216.0 million. The Company used the net proceeds from the sale of these shares to pay down borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility, acquisitions of hotel properties and for general corporate purposes. No shares were sold under the Company’s ATM Program during the year ended December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $5.3 million remained available for issuance under the ATM Program. The Company plans to use future net proceeds from the sale of shares under the ATM Program, or under a similar successor program, for general corporate purposes which may include, among other things, acquisitions of hotel properties, the repayment of outstanding indebtedness, capital expenditures, improvement of properties in its portfolio and working capital. The Company may also use the net proceeds to acquire another REIT or other company that invests in income producing properties. Future offerings will depend on a variety of factors to be determined by the Company, including market conditions, the trading price of the Company’s common shares and opportunities for uses of any proceeds.

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As discussed in Note 3, titled “Assets Held for Sale and Dispositions” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, as of December 31, 2023, the Company had an outstanding contract to sell two of its hotels, which were both sold to an unrelated party for a combined gross sales price of approximately $33.5 million in February 2024. The net proceeds from the sale of both hotels were used for general corporate purposes.

Capital Uses

The Company anticipates that cash flow from operations, availability under its Revolving Credit Facility, additional borrowings, and proceeds from hotel dispositions and equity offerings will be adequate to meet its anticipated liquidity requirements, including required distributions to shareholders, share repurchases, capital improvements, debt service, hotel acquisitions, lease commitments, and cash management activities.

Distributions

The Company generally must distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, subject to certain adjustments and excluding any net capital gain, in order to maintain its REIT status. Subsequent to the distribution paid in March 2020, the Company announced the suspension of its monthly distributions due to the impact of COVID-19 on its operating cash flows. Beginning in March 2021, the Board of Directors declared distributions of $0.01 per common share per quarter or to the extent required to maintain REIT status. In February 2022, the Board of Directors of the Company reinstated its policy of distributions on a monthly basis and declared a monthly cash distribution of $0.05 per common share with the first monthly distribution paid in March 2022. In August and October 2022, the Board of Directors approved subsequent increases to the monthly cash distribution to $0.07 and $0.08 per common share, respectively. In addition to the regular monthly cash distribution of $0.08 per common share approved by the Board of Directors in December 2022, the Board of Directors approved a special cash distribution of $0.08 per common share for a combined distribution of $0.16 per common share, paid in January 2023, to shareholders of record as of December 30, 2022. The Company continued a monthly cash distribution of $0.08 per common share in 2023. In December 2023, in addition to the regular monthly cash distribution of $0.08 per common share, the Board of Directors approved a special cash distribution of $0.05 per common share for a combined distribution of $0.13 per common share, paid in January 2024, to shareholders of record as of December 29, 2023. Distributions paid for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $1.04, $0.61 and $0.03 per common share, respectively, for a total of approximately $238.3 million, $139.5 million and $6.8 million, respectively.

The Company's current annual distribution rate, payable monthly, is $0.96 per common share. As it has done historically, due to seasonality, the Company may use its Revolving Credit Facility to maintain the consistency of the monthly distribution rate, taking into consideration any acquisitions, dispositions, capital improvements and economic cycles. While management currently expects monthly cash distributions to continue at $0.08 per common share, any distribution will be subject to approval of the Company’s Board of Directors and there can be no assurance of the classification, timing or duration of distributions at any particular distribution rate. The Board of Directors monitors the Company’s distribution rate relative to the performance of its hotels on an ongoing basis and may make adjustments to the distribution rate as determined to be prudent in relation to other cash requirements of the Company or to the extent required to maintain REIT status. If cash flows from operations and the Revolving Credit Facility are not adequate to meet liquidity requirements, the Company may utilize additional financing sources to make distributions. Although the Company has relatively low levels of debt, there can be no assurance it will be successful with this strategy, and it may need to reduce its distributions to minimum levels required to maintain its qualification as a real estate investment trust. If the Company were unable to extend its maturing debt in future periods or if it were to default on its debt, it may be unable to make distributions.

Share Repurchases

In May 2023, the Company’s Board of Directors approved a one-year extension of its existing Share Repurchase Program, authorizing share repurchases up to an aggregate of $338.7 million. The Share Repurchase Program may be suspended or terminated at any time by the Company and will end in July 2024 if not terminated or extended earlier. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Company purchased approximately 0.5 million of its common shares under its Share Repurchase Program at a weighted-average market purchase price of approximately $14.34 per common share for an aggregate purchase price, including commissions, of approximately $6.9 million. Repurchases under the Share Repurchase Program have been funded, and the Company intends to fund future repurchases, with cash on hand or availability under its unsecured credit facilities, subject to applicable restrictions under the Company’s unsecured credit facilities (if any). The timing of share repurchases and the number of common shares to be repurchased under the Share Repurchase Program will also depend upon prevailing market conditions, regulatory requirements and other factors. As of December 31, 2023, approximately $335.4 million remained available for purchase under the Share Repurchase Program.

Capital Improvements

Management routinely monitors the condition and operations of its hotels and plans renovations and other improvements as it deems prudent. The Company is committed to maintaining and enhancing each property’s competitive position in its market. The

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Company has invested in and plans to continue to reinvest in its hotels. Under certain loan and management agreements, the Company is required to place in escrow funds for the repair, replacement and refurbishing of furniture, fixtures, and equipment, based on a percentage of gross revenues, provided that such amount may be used for the Company’s capital expenditures with respect to the hotels. As of December 31, 2023, the Company held approximately $30.4 million in reserves related to these properties. During 2023, the Company invested approximately $76.8 million in capital expenditures. The Company anticipates spending approximately $75 million to $85 million during 2024, which includes various comprehensive renovation projects for approximately 20 properties, however, inflationary pressures or supply chain shortages, among other issues, may result in increased costs or delays for anticipated projects. The Company does not currently have any existing or planned projects for new property development.

Upcoming Debt Maturities and Debt Service Payments

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately $175.2 million of principal and interest payments due on its debt over the next 12 months. Included in this total is an $85.0 million term loan and a mortgage loan of approximately $20.3 million, both maturing in the third quarter of 2024. The Company plans to pay outstanding amounts and service payments due upon the upcoming debt maturity dates using funds from operations, borrowings under its Revolving Credit Facility and/or proceeds from new financing, refinancing or loan extensions. Interest expense related to the Company’s unsecured credit facilities is expected to be higher in 2024 than it was during 2023 as a result of increases in market interest rates on its variable-rate debt and increased borrowings on its Revolving Credit Facility. See Note 4 titled “Debt” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for more detail regarding future maturities of the Company’s debt instruments as of December 31, 2023.

Hotel Purchase Contract Commitments

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had separate outstanding contracts for the potential purchase of two hotels, consisting of one hotel in Madison, Wisconsin and one hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, for a total combined purchase price of approximately $177.5 million. Both hotels are under development, with the hotel in Madison, Wisconsin currently planned to be completed and opened for business in mid-2024 and the Nashville, Tennessee hotel currently planned to be completed and opened for business in late 2025, at which respective times the Company expects to complete the purchases of these hotels. Although the Company is working towards acquiring these hotels, in each case there are a number of conditions to closing that have not yet been satisfied, and there can be no assurance that closings on these hotels will occur under the outstanding purchase contracts. If the sellers meet all of the conditions to closing, the Company is obligated to specifically perform under the applicable purchase contracts and acquire these hotels. If the closings occur, the Company plans to utilize its available cash or borrowings under its unsecured credit facilities available at closing to purchase the properties under contract.

Lease Commitments

The Company is the lessee on certain ground leases, hotel equipment leases and office space leases. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had 14 hotels subject to ground leases and three parking lot ground leases with remaining terms ranging from approximately 15 to 95 years, excluding renewal options. Certain of its ground leases have options to extend beyond the initial lease term by periods ranging from five to 120 years. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had total remaining minimum lease payments of $283.4 million, including $7.3 million due in the next year. Refer to Note 10, titled “Lease Commitments” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional details.

Cash Management Activities

As part of the cost sharing arrangements discussed in Note 6, titled “Related Parties” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, certain day-to-day transactions may result in amounts due to or from the Company and ARG. To efficiently manage cash disbursements, the Company or ARG may make payments for the other company. Under the cash management process, each company may advance or defer up to $1 million at any time. Each quarter, any outstanding amounts are settled between the companies. This process allows each company to minimize its cash on hand and reduces the cost for each company. The amounts outstanding at any point in time are not significant to either of the companies.

Management and Franchise Agreements

Each of the Company’s 225 hotels owned as of December 31, 2023 is operated and managed under separate management agreements with 16 hotel management companies, none of which are affiliated with the Company. Thirteen of the Company’s hotels are managed by affiliates of Marriott. The remainder of the Company’s hotels are managed by companies that are not affiliated with either Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt, and, as a result, the branded hotels they manage were required to obtain separate franchise agreements with each respective franchisor. See Note 9, titled “Management and Franchise Agreements” of the Consolidated Financial Statements

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and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for additional information pertaining to the management and franchise agreements, including a listing of the Company’s hotel management companies.

Impact of Inflation

The Company relies on the performance of its hotels and the ability of its hotel operators to increase revenue to keep pace with inflation. Hotel operators, in general, possess the ability to adjust room rates daily to reflect the effects of inflation on the Company's operating expenses. However, competitive pressures could limit the operators’ ability to raise room rates and, as a result, the Company may not be able to offset increased operating expenses with increases in revenue.

Business Interruption

Being in the real estate industry, the Company is exposed to natural disasters on both a local and national scale. Although management believes the Company has adequate insurance to cover this exposure, there can be no assurance that such events will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

Seasonality

The hotel industry historically has been seasonal in nature. Seasonal variations in occupancy at the Company’s hotels may cause quarterly fluctuations in its revenues. Generally, occupancy rates and hotel revenues for the Company’s hotels are greater in the second and third quarters than in the first and fourth quarters. However, due to the effects of COVID-19, these typical seasonal patterns were disrupted until 2023. In the first quarter of 2022, the Company experienced lower than expected operating results due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19 along with the typical seasonal decrease associated with the first quarter. Since that time, the seasonal variability has recovered to its pre-COVID-19 trend. To the extent that cash flow from operations is insufficient during any quarter due to temporary or seasonal fluctuations in revenue, the Company expects to utilize cash on hand or available financing sources to meet cash requirements.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

The following contains a discussion of what the Company believes to be its critical accounting policies and estimates. These items should be read to gain a further understanding of the principles and estimates used to prepare the Company’s financial statements. These principles and estimates include application of judgment; therefore, changes in judgments may have a material impact on the Company’s reported results of operations and financial condition.

Investment Policy

Upon acquisition of real estate properties, the Company estimates the fair value of acquired tangible assets (consisting of land, buildings and improvements, and furniture, fixtures and equipment) and identified intangible assets and liabilities, including in-place leases, and assumed debt based on the evaluation of information and estimates available at that date. Fair values for these assets are not directly observable and estimates are based on comparables and other information which is subjective in nature, including comparable land sales as well as industry and Company data regarding building and furniture, fixture and equipment costs, including adjustments for estimated depreciation based on the age of the property acquired and time since its most recent renovation. The Company has not assigned any value to management contracts and franchise agreements as such contracts are generally at current market rates based on the remaining terms of the contracts and any other value attributable to these contracts is not considered material. Acquisitions of hotel properties are generally accounted for as acquisitions of a group of assets, with costs incurred to effect an acquisition, including title, legal, accounting, brokerage commissions and other related costs, being capitalized as part of the cost of the assets acquired, instead of accounted for separately as expenses in the period that they are incurred. The underlying assumptions are subject to uncertainty and thus any changes to the allocation of fair value to each of the various line items within the Company’s consolidated balance sheets could have an impact on the Company’s financial condition as well as results of operations due to resulting changes in depreciation and amortization as a result of the fair value allocation. The acquisitions of real estate subject to this estimate totaled seven properties, including six hotels and one free-standing parking garage, for a combined purchase price of approximately $289.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and two properties for a combined purchase price of $85.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022.

Capitalization Policy

The Company considers expenditures to be capital in nature based on the following criteria: (1) for a single asset, the cost must be at least $500, including all normal and necessary costs to place the asset in service, and the useful life must be at least one year; (2) for group purchases of 10 or more identical assets, the unit cost for each asset must be at least $50, including all normal and necessary costs to place the asset in service, and the useful life must be at least one year; and (3) for major repairs to a single asset, the repair must be at least $2,500 and the useful life of the asset must be substantially extended.

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Impairment Losses Policy

The Company records impairment losses on hotel properties used in operations if indicators of impairment are present, and the sum of the undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated by the respective properties over their estimated remaining useful life, based on historical and industry data, is less than the properties’ carrying amount. Indicators of impairment include a property with current or potential losses from operations, when it becomes more likely than not that a property will be sold before the end of its previously estimated useful life or when events, trends, contingencies or changes in circumstances indicate that a triggering event has occurred and an asset’s carrying value may not be recoverable. The Company monitors its properties on an ongoing basis by analytically reviewing financial performance and considers each property individually for purposes of reviewing for indicators of impairment. As many indicators of impairment are subjective, such as general economic and market declines, the Company also prepares an annual recoverability analysis for each of its properties to assist with its evaluation of impairment indicators. The Company performs an annual recoverability analysis by comparing each property’s net book value to its estimated operating income based on assumptions and estimates about the property’s future revenues, expenses and capital expenditures after recovery from disruption resulting from COVID-19 and other disruptive events such as renovations or newly opened hotels in the same market. The Company’s planned initial hold period for each property is generally 39 years. If events or circumstances change, such as the Company’s intended hold period for a property or if the operating performance of a property declines substantially for an extended period of time, the Company’s carrying value for a particular property may not be recoverable, and an impairment loss will be recorded. Impairment losses are measured as the difference between the asset’s fair value and its carrying value. The Company’s ongoing analyses and annual recoverability analyses have identified impairment losses on two properties recorded in 2023, two properties recorded in 2022 and five properties recorded in 2021 totaling approximately $5.6 million, $26.2 million and $10.8 million, respectively, as discussed in Note 2, titled “Investment in Real Estate” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

New Accounting Standards

See Note 1, titled “Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto in Part II, Item 8, in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for information on the anticipated adoption of recently issued accounting standards.

Subsequent Events

On January 16, 2024, the Company paid approximately $31.4 million, or $0.13 per common share, in distributions to shareholders of record as of December 29, 2023.

On January 19, 2024, the Company declared a monthly cash distribution of $0.08 per common share. The distribution of approximately $19.3 million was paid on February 15, 2024, to shareholders of record as of January 31, 2024.

On February 9, 2024, the Company completed the sale of two existing hotels in Rogers, Arkansas, including a 122-room Hampton and a 126-room Homewood Suites, for a combined gross sales price of approximately $33.5 million. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the two hotels will be used to complete a like-kind exchange in accordance with Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, with future acquisitions, which is expected to result in the deferral of taxable gains of approximately $15 million.

On February 16, 2024, the Company declared a monthly cash distribution of $0.08 per common share. The distribution is payable on March 15, 2024, to shareholders of record as of February 29, 2024.

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