Hilton Q3 Profit Meets Estimates; Tightens FY15 Adj. EPS View - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Hospitality company Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (HLT) Wednesday reported Wednesday that its third-quarter net income attributable to Hilton stockholders climbed to $279 million from $183 million last year. Earnings per share were $0.28, compared to $0.19 a year ago.

Earnings per share, adjusted for special items, was $0.23, compared to $0.18 last year.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.23 per share. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 13 percent to $758 million, and Adjusted EBITDA margin increased 290 basis points.

Total revenues increased to $2.895 billion from last year's $2.64 billion, while analysts were looking for $2.87 billion.

System-wide comparable RevPAR increased 5.8 percent on a currency neutral basis.

Looking ahead, for the fourth quarter, the company projects adjusted earnings per share between $0.21 and $0.23, while analysts expect $0.23 per share. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $706 million and $736 million, and system-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 4.0 percent and 6.0 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis.

Looking ahead, for the full year 2015, the company now expects adjusted earnings per share between $0.81 and $0.83, compared to previous outlook of $0.80-$0.84.

Adjusted EBITDA is now expected between $2,840 million and $2,870 million, an increase of $10 million at the midpoint. The previous outlook was adjusted EBITDA between $2.820 billion and $2.870 billion.

Fiscal 2015 system-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 5.0 percent and 6.5 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis.

For fiscal 2016, system-wide RevPAR is expected to increase between 4 percent and 6 percent on a comparable and currency neutral basis.