Sunstone Hotel Investors Appoints President John Arabia To Addl. Role Of CEO

(RTTNews) - Sunstone Hotel Investors, Inc. (SHO) said Monday that it has appointed President John Arabia to the additional role of Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Arabia succeeds Ken Cruse as CEO. Cruse has left the company and will be pursuing other opportunities and has resigned from his position on the Board.

Pursuant to the terms of his existing employment agreement, Cruse is entitled to contractual payments as a result of his separation from the company. The company has not entered into any new compensatory arrangements with Cruse in connection with his separation.

Arabia joined Sunstone in April 2011 as Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Chief Financial Officer. In February 2013, he was promoted to President and since February 2014 has served on Sunstone's Board.

The company also reaffirmed its prior fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial guidance, which was provided on November 3. Specifically, the company expects fourth quarter and full year RevPAR to increase 6.0% and 6.8%, respectively. Additionally, the company expects fourth quarter and full year adjusted net income and adjusted FFO per share to be at or above the midpoint and high-end of the previously provided range, respectively. The company's previous adjusted FFO per share guidance for the fourth quarter and the full year 2014 was $0.26 - $0.28 and $1.15 - $1.17, respectively.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters currently expect the company to report FFO of $0.27 per share for the fourth quarter and $1.16 per share for the full year 2014. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company plans to release fourth quarter and full year 2014 financial results after the market close on February 17.