Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (PK) FY 2021 MD&A

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

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements, related notes included thereto and Item 1A., “Risk Factors,” appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For the discussion and analysis of our 2019 financial condition and results of operations compared to 2020, refer to Item 7., “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Overview

We have a diverse portfolio of iconic and market-leading hotels and resorts with significant underlying real estate value. We currently hold investments in entities that have ownership or leasehold interests in 54 hotels, consisting of premium-branded hotels and resorts with approximately 32,000 rooms, of which over 86% are luxury and upper upscale and all are located in prime U.S. markets and its territories. Our high-quality portfolio includes hotels in major urban and convention areas, such as New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, New Orleans and Denver; premier resorts in key leisure destinations, including Hawaii, Orlando, Key West and Miami Beach; and hotels adjacent to major gateway airports, such as Los Angeles International, Boston Logan International and Miami International, as well as hotels in select suburban locations.

Our objective is to be the preeminent lodging real estate investment trust (“REIT”), focused on consistently delivering superior, risk-adjusted returns to stockholders through active asset management and a thoughtful external growth strategy while maintaining a strong and flexible balance sheet. As a pure-play real estate company with direct access to capital and independent financial resources, we believe our enhanced ability to implement compelling return on investment initiatives within our portfolio represents a significant embedded growth opportunity. Finally, given our scale and investment expertise, we believe we will be able to successfully execute single-asset and portfolio acquisitions and dispositions to further enhance the value and diversification of our assets throughout the lodging cycle, including potentially taking advantage of the economies of scale that could come from consolidation in the lodging REIT industry.

We operate our business through two operating segments, our consolidated hotels and unconsolidated hotels. Our consolidated hotels operating segment is our only reportable segment. Refer to Note 14: “Geographic and Business Segment Information” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information regarding our operating segments.

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements reflect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). Refer to Note 2: “Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

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COVID-19 Operational Update

The global outbreak of a novel strain of coronavirus and the disease it causes (“COVID-19”) has had and continues to have a significant effect on the lodging industry and our business. We cannot presently determine the extent or duration of the overall operational and financial effects that COVID-19 will have on our business. In March and April 2020, travel restrictions and mandated closings of non-essential businesses were imposed, which resulted in temporary suspensions of operations at a majority of our hotels, all except two of which have now reopened. Temporary closings of restaurants and hotels as well as travel restrictions across entire regions also contributed to severely reduced overall lodging demand. The effects of COVID-19 continue to have a significant adverse effect on the hospitality industry, including our business; however, the increase in vaccination rates across the country and the easing or removal of restrictions, quarantining, and “social distancing” mandates resulted in increased travel and hospitality spending beginning in the second quarter of 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020. In December 2021, the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases from the Omicron variant resulted in additional group cancellations and cautious business travel sentiment during the first quarter of 2022, labor disruptions throughout the travel industry resulting in widespread airline cancellations and hotel staff shortages, and re-imposed restrictions on gatherings and business events by an increasing number of jurisdictions. Despite the near-term reduction in demand due to the seasonal decline in leisure travel following the holiday season and the delay in return of business travel, coupled with concerns over the spread of the Omicron variant and related travel restrictions, we expect a broader based recovery to continue beginning in the second quarter of 2022 as leisure demand trends and group booking activity continue to improve. We expect to see a return of group demand beginning in the second quarter of 2022 in select markets as groups continued to push out meetings originally scheduled for the second half of 2021 into 2022.

Beginning in March 2020, we experienced a significant decline in occupancy, Average Daily Rate (“ADR”) and Revenue per Available Room (“RevPAR”) associated with the COVID-19 pandemic throughout our consolidated portfolio, which has resulted in a decline in our operating cash flow. As distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine continues, we have seen improvement in traveler sentiment, and as a result, an improvement in occupancy, ADR and RevPAR during 2021. Changes in our 2021 pro-forma metrics, which exclude results from properties disposed of and include results from properties acquired as of February 18, 2022, as compared to the same periods in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and pro-forma occupancy are as follows:

We believe demand will remain significantly reduced as long as mandatory travel restrictions, “social distancing” and cost-saving or other measures, such as the postponing or cancelling of non-essential business travel, remain in place or if these restrictions tighten or demand for travel continues to be depressed due to virus variants. Although we were able to recommence operations at all except two of our previously suspended hotels by the end of 2021, there remains considerable uncertainty as to both the time it will take to see travel and demand for lodging and travel-related experiences to fully recover. If demand does not recover, or if virus variants increase or travel restrictions tighten, we may be required to suspend operations at additional hotels. Further, uncertainty as to the timing of when remaining restrictions will be removed generally will make it more difficult to execute on our external growth strategy. The uncertainties surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic recovery, including new variants, make it difficult to predict operating results for our hotels in 2022, thus there can be no assurances that we will not experience further declines in hotel revenues or earnings at our hotels.

We and our hotel managers have taken various actions to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, including temporarily suspending operations at a majority of our hotels beginning in March 2020, limiting capacity at our open hotels, deferring approximately $150 million of capital expenditures planned for 2020, reducing capital expenditures for maintenance projects to approximately $44 million for 2021 and suspending our dividend after the first quarter of 2020. Additionally, as a precautionary measure to increase liquidity and preserve financial flexibility, we fully drew on our revolving credit facility ("Revolver") in 2020 and completed three corporate bond offerings totaling $2.1 billion in 2020 and 2021 and five asset sales in 2021, the proceeds of which were used to fully repay the Revolver and our term loan due December 2021 ("2016 Term Loan"), as well as a majority of our unsecured delayed draw term loan facility ("2019 Term Facility").

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Since originally suspending operations, we have commenced the phased reopening of all except two of our hotels. The timing of the reopening of these remaining hotels will depend primarily on government restrictions imposed or re-imposed and recovery in demand. The status of our hotels as of February 18, 2022 is as follows:

In addition, the operating environment for us and our hotel managers has improved as government restrictions are lifted and demand for travel returns. Economic indicators such as GDP growth, corporate earnings, consumer confidence and employment are highly correlated with lodging demand and have generally returned to pre-pandemic levels. We expect the significance of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extent of its effect on our financial and operational results, to be dictated by, among other things, its duration, the success of efforts to contain it, the emergence of virus variants, efficacy, availability and deployment of vaccinations and other treatments to combat COVID-19, including public adoption rates of COVID-19 vaccines, and the effect of actions taken in response (such as travel advisories and restrictions and social distancing), including the extent and duration of such actions.

The extent and duration of the effects of COVID-19 are not yet clear. Despite cost reduction initiatives, we do not expect to be able to fully, or even materially, offset revenue losses from the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we cannot predict whether our reopened hotels will be forced to suspend operations again in the future or be subjected to operating restrictions following further outbreaks or variants of COVID-19.

Principal Components of and Factors Affecting Our Results of Operations

Revenues

Revenues from our hotels are primarily derived from two categories of customers: transient and group, which historically have accounted for approximately two thirds and one third, respectively, of our rooms revenue. Transient guests are individual travelers who are traveling for business or leisure. Group guests are traveling for group events that reserve rooms for meetings, conferences or social functions sponsored by associations, corporate, social, military, educational, religious or other organizations. Group business usually includes a block of room accommodations, as well as other ancillary services, such as meeting facilities, catering and banquet services. A majority of our food and beverage sales and other ancillary services are provided to customers who also are occupying rooms at our hotels. As a result, occupancy affects all components of revenues from our hotels. Due to the effects of COVID-19, we have experienced a greater shift to transient business as a result of the cancellation or postponement of business conferences and other group events.

Principal Components

Rooms. Represents the sale of room rentals at our hotels and accounts for a substantial majority of our total revenue.

Food and beverage. Represents revenue from group functions, which may include both banquet revenue and audio and visual revenue, as well as revenue from outlets such as restaurants and lounges at our hotels.

Ancillary hotel. Represents revenue for guest services provided at our hotels, including parking, telecommunications, golf course and spa. Also includes tenant leases and other rental revenue.

Other. Primarily related to support services we provide to Hilton Grand Vacations (“HGV”) timeshare properties that have a presence within or adjacent to certain of our hotels, which include cost reimbursements for the costs of providing housekeeping, landscaping, general maintenance and other services plus a fee representing a percentage of cost reimbursements. Also included in the comparative period, revenue from our laundry business prior to permanent suspension of operations in 2020.

Factors Affecting our Revenues

Consumer demand. Consumer demand for our products and services is closely linked to the performance of the general economy and is sensitive to business and personal discretionary spending levels. Leading indicators of demand include gross domestic product, non-residential fixed investment and the consumer price index. Declines in consumer demand due to adverse general economic conditions, reductions in travel patterns, lower consumer confidence, outbreaks of pandemic or contagious diseases, and adverse political conditions can lower the revenues and profitability of our hotels. Further, competition for guests and the supply of

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services at our hotels affect our ability to sustain or increase rates charged to customers at our hotels. As a result, changes in consumer demand and general business cycles have historically subjected and could in the future subject our revenues to significant volatility. In addition, leisure travelers currently make up the majority of our transient demand. Therefore, we will be significantly more affected by trends in leisure travel than trends in business travel.

Supply. New room supply is an important factor that can affect the lodging industry’s performance. Room rates and occupancy, and thus RevPAR, tend to increase when demand growth exceeds supply growth. The addition of new competitive hotels and resorts affects the ability of existing hotels and resorts to sustain or grow RevPAR, and thus profits. New development is determined largely by construction costs, the availability of financing and expected performance of existing hotels and resorts.

Expenses

Principal Components

Rooms. These costs include housekeeping, reservation systems, room supplies, laundry services at our hotels and front desk costs.

Food and beverage. These costs primarily include food, beverage and the associated labor and will correlate closely with food and beverage revenues.

Other departmental and support. These costs include labor and other costs associated with other ancillary revenue, such as parking, telecommunications, golf course and spa, as well as labor and other costs associated with administrative departments, sales and marketing, repairs and minor maintenance and utility costs. Additionally, these costs include franchise fees and are generally computed as a percentage of rooms revenues. Refer to Item 1: “Business – Our Principal Agreements,” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information on franchise fees.

Other property-level. These costs consist primarily of real and personal property taxes, other local taxes, ground rent, equipment rent and property insurance.

Management fees. Base management fees are computed as a percentage of gross revenue. Incentive management fees generally are paid if specified financial performance targets are achieved. Refer to Item 1: “Business – Our Principal Agreements,” included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

Impairment and casualty loss, net. Impairment losses are non-cash expenses that are recognized when circumstances indicate that the carrying value of a long-lived asset is not recoverable. An impairment loss is recognized for the excess of the carrying value over the fair value of the asset. Casualty losses are expenses that represent losses incurred resulting from property damage or destruction caused by any sudden, unexpected or unusual event such as a hurricane. Casualty gains are insurance proceeds for property damage claims that are in excess of any associated impairment loss recognized and clean-up and recovery costs incurred, less any insurance deductible.

Depreciation and amortization. These are non-cash expenses that primarily consist of depreciation of fixed assets such as buildings, furniture, fixtures and equipment at our hotels, as well as amortization of finite lived intangible assets.

Corporate general & administrative. These costs include general and administrative expenses, including costs associated with the potential disposition of hotels. General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation expense for our corporate staff and personnel supporting our business, professional fees, travel and entertainment expenses, and office administrative and related expenses.

Acquisition costs. These costs include expenses associated with our hotel acquisitions.

Other. These costs include costs to provide support services to certain HGV timeshare properties. Also included in the comparative period, expenses for our laundry business prior to permanent suspension of operations in 2020.

Factors Affecting our Costs and Expenses

Variable expenses. Expenses associated with our room expense and food and beverage expense are mainly affected by occupancy and correlate closely with their respective revenues. These expenses can increase based on increases in salaries and wages, as well as on the level of service and amenities that are provided. Additionally, food and beverage expense is affected by the mix of business between banquet, catering and outlet sales.

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Fixed expenses. Many of the other expenses associated with our hotels are relatively fixed. These expenses include portions of rent expense, property taxes and insurance. Since we generally are unable to decrease these costs significantly or rapidly when demand for our hotels decreases, any resulting decline in our revenues can have a greater adverse effect on our net cash flow, margins and profits. This effect can be especially pronounced during periods of economic contraction or slow economic growth. The effectiveness of any cost-cutting efforts is limited by the amount of fixed costs inherent in our business. As a result, we may not be able to successfully offset revenue reductions through cost cutting. The individuals employed at certain of our hotels are party to collective bargaining agreements with our hotel managers that may also limit the manager’s ability to make timely staffing or labor changes in response to declining revenues. In addition, any efforts to reduce costs, or to defer or cancel capital improvements, could adversely affect the economic value of our hotels. We have taken steps to reduce our fixed costs to levels we believe are appropriate to maximize profitability and respond to market conditions without jeopardizing the overall customer experience or the value of our hotels.

Changes in depreciation and amortization expense. Changes in depreciation expense are due to renovations of existing hotels, acquisition or development of new hotels, the disposition of existing hotels through sale or closure or changes in estimates of the useful lives of our assets. As we place new assets into service, we will be required to recognize additional depreciation expense on those assets.

Key Business Metrics Used by Management

Occupancy

Occupancy represents the total number of room nights sold divided by the total number of room nights available at a hotel or group of hotels. Room nights available to guests have not been adjusted for suspended or reduced operations at certain of our hotels as a result of COVID-19. Occupancy measures the utilization of our hotels’ available capacity. Management uses occupancy to gauge demand at a specific hotel or group of hotels in a given period. Occupancy levels also help us determine achievable ADR levels as demand for rooms increases or decreases.

Average Daily Rate

ADR represents rooms revenue divided by total number of room nights sold in a given period. ADR measures average room price attained by a hotel and ADR trends provide useful information concerning the pricing environment and the nature of the customer base of a hotel or group of hotels. ADR is a commonly used performance measure in the hotel industry, and we use ADR to assess pricing levels that we are able to generate by type of customer, as changes in rates have a more pronounced effect on overall revenues and incremental profitability than changes in occupancy, as described above.

Revenue per Available Room

RevPAR represents rooms revenue divided by the total number of room nights available to guests for a given period. Room nights available to guests have not been adjusted for suspended or reduced operations at certain of our hotels as a result of COVID-19. We consider RevPAR to be a meaningful indicator of our performance as it provides a metric correlated to two primary and key factors of operations at a hotel or group of hotels: occupancy and ADR. RevPAR is also a useful indicator in measuring performance over comparable periods.

Comparable Hotels Data

Historically, we have presented certain data for our hotels on a comparable hotel basis as supplemental information for investors. We defined our comparable hotels as those that: (i) were active and operating in our portfolio since January 1st of the previous year; and (ii) have not sustained substantial property damage or business interruption, have not undergone large-scale capital projects or for which comparable results are not available. We presented comparable hotel results to help us and our investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of our comparable hotels. However, given the significant effect of COVID-19 on most of our hotels and the lack of comparability to prior periods, we do not believe this supplemental information is useful to us or our investors at this time. Under “Results of Operations” below, we have provided information on the effects from dispositions and other factors to our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2020. Change from other factors primarily relates to the effects of COVID-19.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

We also evaluate the performance of our business through certain other financial measures that are not recognized under U.S. GAAP. Each of these non-GAAP financial measures should be considered by investors as supplemental measures to GAAP performance measures such as total revenues, operating profit and net income.

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA, presented herein, reflects net income (loss) excluding depreciation and amortization, interest income, interest expense, income taxes and also interest expense, income tax and depreciation and amortization included in equity in earnings (losses) from investments in affiliates.

Adjusted EBITDA, presented herein, is calculated as EBITDA, further adjusted to exclude:

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Gains or losses on sales of assets for both consolidated and unconsolidated investments;

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Costs associated with hotel acquisitions or dispositions expensed during the period;

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Severance expense;

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Share-based compensation expense;

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Impairment losses and casualty gains or losses; and

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Other items that we believe are not representative of our current or future operating performance.

Hotel Adjusted EBITDA measures hotel-level results before debt service, depreciation and corporate expenses for our consolidated hotels, which excludes hotels owned by unconsolidated affiliates, and is a key measure of our profitability. We present Hotel Adjusted EBITDA to help us and our investors evaluate the ongoing operating performance of our consolidated hotels.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under U.S. GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives to net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity derived in accordance with U.S. GAAP. In addition, our definitions of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

We believe that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA provide useful information to investors about us and our financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are among the measures used by our management team to make day-to-day operating decisions and evaluate our operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the effect of our capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from our operating results; and (ii) EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA are frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties as a common performance measure to compare results or estimate valuations across companies in our industry.

EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for net income (loss) or other methods of analyzing our operating performance and results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect our interest expense;

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect our income tax expense;

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the effect on earnings or changes resulting from matters that we consider not to be indicative of our future operations; and

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other companies in our industry may calculate EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA differently, limiting their usefulness as comparative measures.

We do not use or present EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA as measures of our liquidity or cash flow. These measures have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered either in isolation or as a substitute for cash flow or other methods of analyzing our cash flows and liquidity as reported under U.S. GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs;

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments, on our indebtedness;

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect the cash requirements to pay our taxes;

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EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect historical cash expenditures or future requirements for capital expenditures or contractual commitments; and

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•
although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized will often have to be replaced in the future, and EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA do not reflect any cash requirements for such replacements.

Because of these limitations, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Hotel Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as discretionary cash available to us to reinvest in the growth of our business or as measures of cash that will be available to us to meet our obligations.

The following table provides a reconciliation of Net loss to Hotel Adjusted EBITDA:

(1) Included in other (loss) gain, net.

(2) For the year ended December 31, 2020, includes a $12 million reserve related to ongoing claims in connection with our obligation to indemnify Hilton under the spin-off agreements. Refer to Note 15: “Commitments and Contingencies” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

(3) Includes other revenues and other expenses, non-income taxes on TRS leases included in other property-level expenses and corporate general and administrative expenses.

Nareit FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders

We present Nareit FFO attributable to stockholders and Nareit FFO per diluted share (defined as set forth below) as non-GAAP measures of our performance. We calculate funds from (used in) operations (“FFO”) attributable to stockholders for a given operating period in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (“Nareit”), as net income (loss) attributable to stockholders (calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP), excluding depreciation and amortization, gains or losses on sales of assets, impairment, and the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, plus adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures. Adjustments for unconsolidated joint ventures are calculated to reflect our pro rata share of the FFO of those entities on the same basis. As noted by Nareit in its December 2018 “Nareit Funds from Operations White Paper – 2018 Restatement,” since real estate values historically have risen or fallen with market conditions, many industry investors have considered presentation of operating results for real estate companies that use historical cost accounting to be insufficient by themselves. For these reasons, Nareit adopted the FFO metric in order to promote an industry-wide measure of REIT operating performance. We believe Nareit FFO provides useful information to investors regarding our operating performance and can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs. Our presentation may not be comparable to FFO reported by other REITs that do not define the terms in accordance with the current Nareit definition, or that interpret the current Nareit definition differently than we do. We calculate Nareit FFO per diluted share as our Nareit FFO divided by the number of fully diluted shares outstanding during a given operating period.

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We also present Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO per diluted share when evaluating our performance because we believe that the exclusion of certain additional items described below provides useful supplemental information to investors regarding our ongoing operating performance. Management historically has made the adjustments detailed below in evaluating our performance and in our annual budget process. We believe that the presentation of Adjusted FFO provides useful supplemental information that is beneficial to an investor’s complete understanding of our operating performance. We adjust Nareit FFO attributable to stockholders for the following items, which may occur in any period, and refer to this measure as Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders:

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Costs associated with hotel acquisitions or dispositions expensed during the period;

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Severance expense;

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Share-based compensation expense; and

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Other items that we believe are not representative of our current or future operating performance.

The following table provides a reconciliation of net loss attributable to stockholders to Nareit FFO attributable to stockholders and Adjusted FFO attributable to stockholders:

(1) Included in other (loss) gain, net.

(2) For the year ended December 31, 2020, includes $37 million of tax expense on hotels sold during 2020.

(3) Per share amounts are calculated based on unrounded numbers.

Results of Operations

The following items have had a significant effect on the year-over-year comparability of our operations and are illustrated further in the table of Hotel Revenues and Operating Expenses below:

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Property Dispositions: Between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021, we disposed of seven consolidated hotels. As a result of these dispositions, our revenues and operating expenses decreased for the year ended December 31, 2021 as compared to the same period in 2020. The results of operations during our period of ownership of these hotels are included in our consolidated results.

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COVID-19: Beginning in March 2020, we experienced a significant decline in ADR, occupancy and RevPAR due to COVID-19. The economic contraction resulting from the spread of COVID-19 has and is expected to continue to significantly affect our business. As discussed in "Overview — COVID-19 Operational Update," since April, 2021, we have seen increases in ADR, occupancy and RevPAR each month compared to 2020. Consequently, the results of our portfolio during the year ended December 31, 2021 will not be comparable to the same period in 2020.

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Hotel Revenues and Operating Expenses

(1) Change from other factors primarily relates to the effects of COVID-19, except as otherwise noted. The increase in revenues and expenses was primarily due to the reopening of most of our hotels that were suspended during 2020 and improved occupancy due to an increase in leisure travel as compared to 2020.

(2) The reduction is primarily a result of $30 million of severance expense incurred in 2020 that was not incurred in 2021 and a reduction of real estate taxes of $15 million compared to 2021.

Group, transient, contract and other rooms revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021, as well as the change for each segment compared to 2020 are as follows:

(1) Change from other factors primarily relates to the effects of COVID-19. The increase in revenues was primarily due to the reopening of most of our hotels that were suspended during 2020 and improved traveler sentiment as vaccine distribution significantly increased and operating restrictions were lifted throughout 2021.

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Other revenue and Other expense

During the second half of 2020, we permanently closed operations at all three of our laundry facilities resulting in a decrease in both laundry revenue and laundry expense. The increases in support services revenue and expense are due to the reopening of our hotels that have service arrangements with HGV, which were suspended for a majority of 2020.

Corporate general and administrative

Acquisition costs

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we incurred $10 million of acquisition costs, primarily as a result of $9 million of transfer tax in connection with the Merger with Chesapeake based on new information received during 2020.

Impairment and casualty loss, net

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized an impairment loss of $5 million related to one of our hotels classified as held for sale as of June 30, 2021. We also recognized $4 million of casualty losses as a result of damage caused by Hurricane Ida at one of our hotels.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized a net loss of $696 million primarily as a result of $607 million of impairment losses related to our goodwill and $90 million of impairment losses primarily related to one of our hotels, and our inability to recover the carrying value of the asset because of COVID-19.

(Loss) Gain on sales of assets, net

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized a net loss of $5 million primarily as a result of the sales of five of our consolidated hotels.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized a net gain of $62 million primarily as a result of the sale of two of our consolidated hotels.

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Non-operating Income and Expenses

Interest expense

Interest expense increased during the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the same period in 2020 as a result of the issuances of $2.1 billion of Senior Secured Notes during the second and third quarters of 2020 and May 2021, partially offset by a decrease in interest expense as a result of the full repayment of the 2016 Term Loan in September 2020, partial repayment of the 2019 Term Facility during the second and third quarters of 2021 and the full repayment of the Revolver during 2021. Interest expense associated with our debt for the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were as follows:

(1) In October 2016, we entered into a $725 million CMBS loan secured by the Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the Parc 55 Hotel San Francisco (“SF Mortgage Loan”) and a $1.275 billion CMBS loan secured by the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort (“HHV Mortgage Loan”).

(2) Percentage change is not meaningful.

(3) In May and September 2020, Park Intermediate Holdings LLC (our “Operating Company”), PK Domestic Property LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the Company (“PK Domestic”), and PK Finance Co-Issuer Inc. (“PK Finance”) issued an aggregate of $650 million of senior secured notes due 2025 (“2025 Senior Secured Notes”) and an aggregate of $725 million of senior secured notes due 2028 (“2028 Senior Secured Notes”), respectively. Additionally, in May 2021, our Operating Company, PK Domestic and PK Finance issued an aggregate of $750 million of senior secured notes due 2029 (“2029 Senior Secured Notes,” collectively with the 2025 Senior Secured Notes and 2028 Senior Secured Notes, the “Senior Secured Notes”).

Our current debt outstanding is approximately $4.7 billion at a weighted average interest rate of 5.0%, of which approximately 99% is fixed-rate debt, refer to Item 7A: “Interest Rate Risk” and Note 7: “Debt” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

Other (loss) gain, net

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we recognized a net loss of $7 million, which is primarily due to $5 million related to the loss on extinguishment of debt during the year.

During the year ended December 31, 2020, we recognized a net loss of $15 million, which is primarily due to an additional $12 million reserve related to ongoing claims in connection with our obligation to indemnify Hilton under the spin-off agreements.

Income tax (expense) benefit

(1) Percentage change is not meaningful.

Income tax expense for the year ended December 31, 2021, primarily consists of $6 million of income tax expense related to our taxable REIT subsidiaries, partially offset by $4 million of state tax benefits from utilizing state NOLs and a $1 million benefit from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities.

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Income tax benefit for the year ended December 31, 2020 includes a TRS income tax benefit of $24 million from utilizing the NOL carryback provisions of the CARES Act and $22 million of a net tax benefit from the derecognition of deferred tax liabilities, partially offset by $37 million of income tax expense from hotels sold during the period.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Overview

We seek to maintain sufficient amounts of liquidity with an appropriate balance of cash, debt and equity to provide financial flexibility. As of December 31, 2021, we had total cash and cash equivalents of $688 million and $75 million of restricted cash. Restricted cash primarily consists of cash restricted as to use by our debt agreements and reserves for capital expenditures in accordance with certain of our management agreements. We currently have higher than historical balances in restricted cash due to certain of our mortgage loans that require deposits of excess cash with the lender when certain financial ratios are not met, which occurred during the period as a result of the effect from COVID-19 on operating results at the associated hotels.

As a result of the economic uncertainty resulting from the effects of COVID-19, including decreased occupancy, ADR and RevPAR at our hotels, as described above under “COVID-19 Operational Update”, we expect our cash flows through at least the first quarter of 2022 to be significantly lower than prior to COVID-19. We have taken several steps to preserve capital and increase liquidity, including drawing $1 billion from our Revolver in March 2020 (which we subsequently fully repaid), issuing $650 million of 2025 Senior Secured Notes in May 2020 (a portion of which was used to partially repay amounts outstanding under our Revolver and 2016 Term Loan), issuing $725 million of 2028 Senior Secured Notes in September 2020 (a portion of which was used to repay the 2016 Term Loan in full as well as a portion of the Revolver), issuing $750 million of 2029 Senior Secured Notes in May 2021 (a portion of which was used to partially repay the Revolver and the 2019 Term Facility), suspending our dividend following the payment of the first quarter 2020 dividend and implementing various cost saving initiatives at our hotels including temporary suspension of operations at certain hotels and selected restaurants and other businesses and outlets and reductions in capital expenditures for maintenance projects to approximately $44 million for 2021. We will continue to assess when the deferred capital expenditures will resume or if any of the deferred expenditures will be cancelled.

In 2021, we sold five consolidated hotels, the W New Orleans – French Quarter, the Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp Quarter, the Courtyard Washington Capitol Hill Navy Yard, the Hotel Adagio, Autograph Collection and the Le Meridien San Francisco. Net proceeds from the sales of these hotels were used to repay $37 million outstanding under the Revolver, which currently has no remaining balance outstanding, and to partially repay $419 million of the 2019 Term Facility.

We generated positive Hotel Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, the third consecutive quarter since the start of the pandemic. With the availability under our Revolver and existing cash and cash equivalents as a result of net proceeds from the offering of our Senior Secured Notes and the proceeds from the sales of two consolidated hotels in 2020 and the sale of five consolidated hotels in 2021, we have sufficient liquidity to pay our debt maturities and to fund other liquidity obligations over the next year and beyond. Only 2% of our total outstanding debt is maturing in 2022. We are maintaining higher than historical cash levels due to the continued uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, and we intend to do so until markets stabilize and demand in the lodging industry significantly recovers. In addition, we also may take other actions to improve our liquidity, such as the issuance of additional debt, equity or equity-linked securities, if we determine that doing so would be beneficial to us. However, there can no assurance as to the timing of any such issuance, which may be in the near term, or that any such additional financing will be completed on favorable terms, or at all. In 2020, we amended our credit facilities, which in addition to providing enhanced liquidity, extending the maturity of the Revolver and extending the waiver period for the testing of the financial covenants, placed certain restrictions on the Company, including limitations on our ability to make dividends and distributions (except to the extent required to maintain REIT status, the ability to pay a $0.01 per share per fiscal quarter dividend and certain other agreed exceptions). In February 2022, we further amended our credit and term loan facilities, including extending the waiver period for the testing of the financial covenants, refer to “Note 17: “Subsequent Events" in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

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Our known short-term liquidity requirements primarily consist of funds necessary to pay for operating expenses and other expenditures, including reimbursements to our hotel manager for payroll and related benefits, costs associated with the operation of our hotels, interest and scheduled principal payments on our outstanding indebtedness, capital expenditures for renovations and maintenance at our hotels, corporate general and administrative expenses, and, when resumed, dividends to our stockholders. Many of the other expenses associated with our hotels are relatively fixed, including portions of rent expense, property taxes and insurance. Since we generally are unable to decrease these costs significantly or rapidly when demand for our hotels decreases, the resulting decline in our revenues can have a greater adverse effect on our net cash flow, margins and profits. Our long-term liquidity requirements primarily consist of funds necessary to pay for scheduled debt maturities, capital improvements at our hotels (to the extent not cancelled or deferred), and costs associated with potential acquisitions. Despite the effect of COVID-19 on the global economy and our business, we were able to access the debt capital markets during the past two years to complete three separate offerings of our Senior Secured Notes.

Our commitments to fund capital expenditures for renovations and maintenance at our hotels will be funded by cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash to the extent permitted by our lending agreements and cash flow from operations. We have construction contract commitments of approximately $94 million for capital expenditures at our properties, of which $72 million relates to the expansion project at the Bonnet Creek complex. The Bonnet Creek expansion project includes additional meeting space for the Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek and the Waldorf Astoria Orlando. Our contracts contain clauses that allow us to cancel all or some portion of the work. Additionally, we have established reserves for capital expenditures (“FF&E reserve”) in accordance with our management and certain debt agreements. Generally, these agreements require that we fund 4% of hotel revenues into an FF&E reserve, unless such amounts have been incurred.

Our cash management objectives continue to be to maintain the availability of liquidity, minimize operational costs, make debt payments and fund our capital expenditure programs and future acquisitions. Further, we have an investment policy that is focused on the preservation of capital and maximizing the return on new and existing investments.

Stock Repurchase Program

In February 2019, our Board of Directors approved a stock repurchase program allowing us to repurchase up to $300 million of our common stock over a two-year period, which ended in February 2021. Stock repurchases were made through open market purchases, in privately negotiated transactions, or in such other manner that complied with applicable securities laws. The timing of stock repurchases and the number of shares repurchased were dependent upon prevailing market conditions and other factors. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we repurchased 4.6 million shares of our common stock for a total purchase price of $66 million. No additional common stock was repurchased during 2020 or in the first two months of 2021 prior to the expiration of this stock repurchase program. We may make future stock repurchases, subject to the approval of a new stock repurchase program by our Board of Directors.

Sources and Uses of Our Cash and Cash Equivalents

The following tables summarize our net cash flows and key metrics related to our liquidity:

(1) Percentage change is not meaningful.

Operating Activities

Cash flow from operating activities are primarily generated from the operating income generated at our hotels.

The $301 million decrease in net cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared to the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily due to an increase in cash from operations as a result of the increase in occupancy as our hotels continue to recover from the effects of COVID-19, partially offset by an increase in cash paid for interest of $55 million and an increase in cash paid for taxes of $8 million.

Investing Activities

The $394 million in net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily attributable to $454 million of net proceeds from the sale of five of our consolidated hotels, partially offset by $54 million in capital expenditures.

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The $119 million in net cash provided by investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to the $207 million in net proceeds received from the sale of hotels, partially offset by $86 million in capital expenditures.

Financing Activities

The $475 million in net cash used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was primarily attributable to $1.2 billion of debt repayments and $15 million of debt issuance costs, partially offset by the issuance of $750 million of 2029 Senior Secured Notes.

The $914 million in net cash provided by financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to borrowings of $1 billion from our Revolver as a result of COVID-19, the issuance of our $650 million 2025 Senior Secured Notes and $725 million of 2028 Senior Secured Notes, partially offset by $1.1 billion of debt repayments, $241 million in dividends paid and the repurchase of 4.6 million shares of our common stock for $66 million.

Dividends

As a REIT, we are required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain, and after utilization of any NOL carryforward to our stockholders on an annual basis. Therefore, as a general matter, it is unlikely that we will be able to retain substantial cash balances that could be used to meet our liquidity needs from our annual taxable income. Instead, we will need to meet these needs from external sources of capital and amounts, if any, by which our cash flow generated from operations exceeds taxable income. However, as a precautionary measure in light of COVID-19, after the payment of the first quarter dividend in 2020, we suspended our quarterly dividend. In addition, except for certain exceptions described above under “—Overview,” our ability to pay dividends is restricted pursuant to our amended credit facility. As described above under Item 5: “Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities—Distribution Information,” we are currently evaluating the reinstatement of a quarterly cash distribution of $0.01 per share, subject to approval by our Board of Directors. Any such distribution and any future distributions will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors.

Debt

As of December 31, 2021, our total indebtedness was approximately $4.7 billion, including approximately $2.1 billion of our Senior Secured Notes, as disclosed above, and excluding approximately $225 million of our share of debt from investments in affiliates. Substantially all the debt of such unconsolidated affiliates is secured solely by the affiliates’ assets or is guaranteed by other partners without recourse to us. Refer to Note 7: “Debt” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of our financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities as of the date of our financial statements, the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods and the related disclosures in our historical consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes. We believe that of our significant accounting policies, which are described in Note 2: “Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere within this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the following accounting policies are critical because they involve a higher degree of judgment, and the estimates required to be made were based on assumptions that are inherently uncertain. As a result, these accounting policies could materially affect our financial position, results of operations and related disclosures. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate these estimates and judgments based on historical experiences and various other factors that are believed to reflect the current circumstances. While we believe our estimates, assumptions and judgments are reasonable, they are based on information presently available. Actual results may differ significantly from these estimates due to changes in judgments, assumptions and conditions as a result of unforeseen events or otherwise, which could have a material effect on our financial position or results of operations.

Acquisitions

We evaluate each of our acquisitions to determine if it is as an asset acquisition or a business combination. An asset acquisition occurs when substantially all the fair value of an acquisition is concentrated in a single identifiable asset or a group of similar identifiable assets. In an acquisition of assets, the total cash consideration, including transaction costs is allocated to the individual assets acquired and liabilities assumed, respectively, on a relative fair value basis. In a business combination, the assets acquired and liabilities assumed are measured at fair value. We evaluate several factors, including market data for similar assets, expected future cash flows discounted at risk-adjusted rates and replacement cost for the assets to determine an appropriate fair value of the assets. Changes to these factors could affect the measurement of assets and liabilities.

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Impairment of Long-Lived Assets with Finite Lives

We evaluate the carrying value of our property and equipment and intangible assets with finite lives by comparing the expected undiscounted future cash flows to the net book value of the assets if we determine there are indicators of potential impairment. If it is determined that the expected undiscounted future cash flows are less than the net book value of the assets, the excess of the net book value over the estimated fair value is recorded in our consolidated statements of comprehensive (loss) income as an impairment loss.

As part of the process described above, we exercise judgment to:

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determine if there are indicators of impairment present. Factors we consider when making this determination include assessing the overall effect of trends in the hospitality industry and the general economy, historical experience, capital costs and other asset-specific information;

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determine the projected undiscounted future cash flows when indicators of impairment are present. Judgment is required when developing projections of future revenues and expenses based on estimated growth rates over the expected hold period of the asset group. These estimated growth rates are based on historical operating results, as well as various internal projections and external sources; and

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determine the asset fair value when required. In determining the fair value, we often use internally-developed discounted cash flow models. Assumptions used in the discounted cash flow models include estimating cash flows, which may require us to adjust for specific market conditions, as well as capitalization rates, which are based on location, property or asset type, market-specific dynamics and overall economic performance. The discount rate takes into account our weighted average cost of capital according to our capital structure and other market specific considerations.

Changes in estimates and assumptions used in our impairment testing of property and equipment and intangible assets with finite lives could result in future impairment losses, which could be material.

We did not identify any additional property and equipment and intangible assets with finite lives with indicators of impairment for which an additional 10% change in our estimates of undiscounted future cash flows or other significant assumptions would result in material impairment losses.

Income Taxes

We use a prescribed more-likely-than-not recognition threshold and measurement attribute for the financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return if there is uncertainty in income taxes recognized in the financial statements. Assumptions and estimates are used to determine the more-likely-than-not designation. Changes to these assumptions and estimates can lead to an additional income tax expense (benefit), which can materially change our consolidated financial statements.

Consolidations

We use judgment when evaluating whether we have a controlling financial interest in an entity, including the assessment of the importance of rights and privileges of the partners based on voting rights, as well as financial interests in an entity that are not controllable through voting interests. If the entity is considered to be a variable interest entity (“VIE”), we use judgment determining whether we are the primary beneficiary, and then consolidate those VIEs for which we have determined we are the primary beneficiary. If the entity in which we hold an interest does not meet the definition of a VIE, we evaluate whether we have a controlling financial interest through our voting interest in the entity. Changes to judgments used in evaluating our partnerships and other investments could materially affect our consolidated financial statements.

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