Hilton Worldwide (HLT) 10-Q2021 Q3 Quarterly report

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

See notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (the "Parent," or together with its subsidiaries, "Hilton," "we," "us," "our" or the "Company"), a Delaware corporation, is one of the largest hospitality companies in the world and is engaged in managing, franchising, owning and leasing hotels and resorts, and licensing its brands and intellectual property ("IP"). As of September 30, 2021, we managed, franchised, owned or leased 6,758 hotels and resorts, including timeshare properties, totaling 1,061,686 rooms in 122 countries and territories.

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 have been prepared in accordance with United States ("U.S.") generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and are unaudited. We have condensed or omitted certain disclosures normally included in annual financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP but that are not required for interim reporting purposes. Although we believe the disclosures made are adequate to prevent the information presented from being misleading, these financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes thereto in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported and, accordingly, ultimate results could differ from those estimates. Additionally, interim results are not necessarily indicative of full year performance. In particular, the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic had a material adverse impact on our results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 when compared to periods prior to the onset of the pandemic in early 2020. As such, this interim period, as well as upcoming periods, are unlikely to be comparable to periods prior to the onset of the pandemic or to other periods affected by the pandemic, and are not indicative of future performance. In our opinion, the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments, including normal recurring items, considered necessary for a fair presentation of the interim periods. All material intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The following table summarizes the activity of our contract liabilities, which are classified as components of current and long-term deferred revenues, during the nine months ended September 30, 2021:

In April 2020, we pre-sold Hilton Honors points to American Express for $1.0 billion in cash (the "Honors Points Pre-Sale"). American Express and their respective designees may use the points in connection with Hilton Honors co-branded credit

As of September 30, 2021, we had deferred revenues for unsatisfied performance obligations consisting of: (i) $188 million related to Hilton Honors that will be recognized as revenue when the points are redeemed, which we estimate will occur over approximately the next two years; (ii) $236 million related to co-branded credit card arrangements, primarily from the Honors Points Pre-Sale, of which a portion will be recognized as revenue when points are awarded with the remaining portion recognized as revenue when the points are redeemed; and (iii) $622 million related to application, initiation and other fees that is expected to be recognized as revenue over the terms of the related contracts.

As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we consolidated 2 variable interest entities ("VIEs") that each lease a hotel property. We consolidated these VIEs since we are the primary beneficiary, having the power to direct the activities that most significantly affect their economic performance. Additionally, we have the obligation to absorb losses and the right to receive benefits that could be significant to each of the VIEs individually. The assets of our consolidated VIEs are only available to settle the obligations of the respective entities, and the liabilities of the consolidated VIEs are non-recourse to us.

Our condensed consolidated balance sheets include the assets and liabilities of these entities, which primarily comprised the following:

Our finite-lived intangible assets consist of management and franchise contracts and other intangible assets. Management and franchise contracts, net were as follows:

Amortization of our finite-lived intangible assets was as follows:

Long-term debt balances, including obligations for finance leases, and associated interest rates and maturities as of September 30, 2021, were as follows:

Our senior secured credit facilities consist of a $1.75 billion senior secured revolving credit facility (the "Revolving Credit Facility") and a senior secured term loan facility (the "Term Loan"). The obligations of our senior secured credit facilities are unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by the Parent and substantially all of its direct and indirect wholly owned domestic restricted subsidiaries. During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we fully repaid the $1,690 million outstanding debt balance on the Revolving Credit Facility. As of September 30, 2021, we had $60 million of letters of credit outstanding on the Revolving Credit Facility, resulting in an available borrowing capacity of $1,690 million.

In February 2021, we issued $1.5 billion aggregate principal amount of 3.625% Senior Notes due 2032 (the "2032 Senior Notes") and incurred $21 million of debt issuance costs. Interest on the 2032 Senior Notes is payable semi-annually in arrears on February 15 and August 15 of each year, beginning August 15, 2021. We used the net proceeds from the issuance, together with available cash, to redeem all $1.5 billion in aggregate principal amount of our outstanding 5.125% Senior Notes due 2026 (the "2026 Senior Notes"), plus accrued and unpaid interest. In connection with the redemption, we paid a redemption premium of $55 million and accelerated the recognition of the unamortized deferred financing costs related to the 2026 Senior Notes of $14 million, which were both included in loss on debt extinguishment in our condensed consolidated statement of operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

In August 2021, one of our consolidated VIEs borrowed 500 million Japanese yen (equivalent to $5 million as of September 30, 2021) on its revolving credit facility, which has a maturity date of June 2022. See Note 3: "Consolidated Variable Interest Entities" for additional information.

The 5.375% Senior Notes due 2025 (the "2025 Senior Notes"), the 4.875% Senior Notes due 2027, the 5.750% Senior Notes due 2028 (the "2028 Senior Notes"), the 3.750% Senior Notes due 2029, the 4.875% Senior Notes due 2030, the 4.000% Senior Notes due 2031 and the 2032 Senior Notes are collectively referred to as the Senior Notes and are jointly and severally guaranteed on a senior unsecured basis by the Parent and substantially all of its direct and indirect wholly owned domestic restricted subsidiaries, other than Hilton Domestic Operating Company Inc. ("HOC"), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Parent and the issuer of all of the series of Senior Notes.

The fair values of certain financial instruments and the hierarchy level we used to estimate the fair values are shown below:

We measure our interest rate swaps at fair value, which was determined using a discounted cash flow analysis that reflects the contractual terms of the interest rate swaps, including the period to maturity, and uses observable market-based inputs of similar instruments, including interest rate curves, as applicable. Our interest rate swaps are included in other long-term liabilities in our condensed consolidated balance sheets.

The fair values of financial instruments not included in these tables are estimated to be equal to their carrying values as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

The Company's income tax provision for interim reporting periods has historically been calculated by applying an estimate of the annual effective income tax rate for the full year to "ordinary" income (loss) for the interim reporting period, which is calculated as pre-tax income (loss) excluding unusual and infrequently occurring discrete items. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we calculated the income tax provision using a discrete effective income tax rate method as if the interim year to date period was an annual period. We determined that since normal changes in estimated "ordinary" income (loss) would result in disproportionate changes in the estimated annual effective income tax rate, the Company's historical method of calculating its income tax provision for interim reporting periods would not provide a reliable estimate for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

In June 2021, the United Kingdom's ("U.K.") Finance Act 2021 (the "U.K. Finance Act") was enacted, which included, among other items, an increase to the U.K. corporate income tax rate from 19 percent to 25 percent. We remeasured our U.K. deferred tax assets and other tax liabilities to the new rate, resulting in a $30 million tax benefit recognized during the nine months ended September 30, 2021. Due to this remeasurement, our effective income tax rate on consolidated pre-tax income is lower than the combined U.S. statutory rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.

We file income tax returns, including returns for our subsidiaries, with federal, state, local and foreign tax jurisdictions. We are under regular and recurring audit by the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and other taxing authorities on open tax positions. The timing of the resolution of tax audits is highly uncertain, as are the amounts, if any, that may ultimately be paid upon such resolution. Changes may result from the conclusion of ongoing audits, appeals or litigation in federal, state, local and foreign tax jurisdictions or from the resolution of various proceedings between the U.S. and foreign tax authorities. As of September 30, 2021, we remain subject to federal and state examinations of our income tax returns for tax years from 2005 through 2020 and foreign examinations of our income tax returns for tax years from 1996 through 2020.

Our total unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 were $438 million and $451 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we had accrued approximately $71 million and $65 million, respectively, for interest and penalties related to these unrecognized tax benefits. Included in the balances of unrecognized tax benefits as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020 were $401 million and $400 million, respectively, associated with positions that, if favorably resolved, would provide a benefit to our effective income tax rate.

In prior periods, we received 30-day Letters from the IRS and the Revenue Agents Reports ("RARs") for the 2006 through the 2013 tax years. We disagreed with several of the proposed adjustments in the RARs for those respective years and filed formal appeals protests with the IRS. The unsettled proposed adjustments sought by the IRS for these open audit periods would result in additional U.S. federal taxes owed of approximately $817 million, excluding interest and penalties and potential state income taxes. We disagree with the IRS's position on each of their assertions and are vigorously contesting them. However, based on continuing appeals process discussions with the IRS, we believe that it is more likely than not that we will not recognize the full benefit related to certain of the issues being appealed. Accordingly, as of September 30, 2021, we had recorded $86 million of unrecognized tax benefits related to these issues.

Under the Hilton 2017 Omnibus Incentive Plan (the "2017 Plan"), we award time-vesting restricted stock units ("RSUs"), nonqualified stock options ("options") and performance-vesting RSUs ("performance shares") to our eligible employees. We recognized share-based compensation expense of $52 million and $25 million during the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $144 million and $37 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, respectively, which included amounts reimbursed by hotel owners. The expenses recognized during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 were net of the reversal of expenses recognized in prior periods as a result of the determination that the performance conditions of the performance shares that were originally awarded in 2018, 2019 and 2020 were no longer probable of achievement. Refer to "Performance Shares" below for additional information.

As of September 30, 2021, unrecognized compensation costs for unvested awards under the 2017 Plan were approximately $157 million, which are expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 1.7 years on a straight-line basis.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we granted 361,000 options with an exercise price per share of $123.13, which vest in equal annual installments over three years from the date of grant and terminate 10 years from the date of grant or earlier if the individual’s service terminates under certain circumstances.

The grant date fair value per share of the options granted during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 was $41.15, which was determined using the Black-Scholes-Merton option-pricing model with the following assumptions:

In December 2020, we modified our performance shares that were originally awarded in 2018, 2019 and 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its negative impact on the hospitality industry and, ultimately, the Company's performance. The modifications were structured to reward for results achieved prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, retain senior business leaders and incentivize for the recovery efforts by utilizing metrics most meaningful in assessing our performance during our recovery from the adverse impact of the pandemic. Under the terms of the modified awards, a portion of the outstanding performance shares granted in 2019 were modified to vest based on performance prior to the pandemic and continued service, and the remaining portion of those performance shares, as well as the shares granted in 2020, were converted to performance shares that will vest based on different performance measures from those under the original award agreements. The modified terms did not change the vesting schedules of the original awards, and, as such, the performance shares that were originally awarded in 2018 vested in December 2020.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we granted 241,000 performance shares with a grant date fair value per share of $123.13. We recognize compensation expense based on the total number of performance shares that are expected to vest as determined by the performance measures' achievement factors, which are estimated each reporting period and range from 0 percent to 200 percent, with 100 percent being the target. As of September 30, 2021, we determined that the performance measures for all of the outstanding performance shares were probable of achievement, with the applicable achievement factors estimated to be between the target and maximum achievement percentages.

The following table presents the calculation of basic and diluted earnings (loss) per share ("EPS"):

The following tables present the changes in the components of stockholders' equity (deficit):

The changes in the components of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes, were as follows:

We are a hospitality company with operations organized in 2 distinct operating segments: (i) management and franchise and (ii) ownership. These segments are managed and reported separately because of their distinct economic characteristics.

The management and franchise segment includes all of the hotels we manage for third-party owners, as well as all franchised hotels that license our brands and where we provide other prescribed services, but where the day-to-day services of the hotels are operated or managed by someone other than us. This segment also earns licensing fees from Hilton Grand Vacations Inc. ("HGV") and strategic partnerships, including co-branded credit card arrangements, for the right to use certain Hilton marks and IP, as well as fees for managing properties in our ownership segment. As of September 30, 2021, this segment included 735 managed hotels and 5,905 franchised hotels consisting of 1,033,282 total rooms. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, during the nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020, the operations of certain hotels in our management and franchise segment were suspended for some period of time. As of September 30, 2021, all but 87 of these hotels were open.

As of September 30, 2021, our ownership segment included 59 properties totaling 19,056 rooms. The segment comprised 51 hotels that we leased, 1 hotel owned by a consolidated non-wholly owned entity, 2 hotels that were each leased by a consolidated VIE and 5 hotels owned or leased by unconsolidated affiliates. In March 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, certain hotels in our ownership segment began suspending operations; however, as of September 30, 2021, with the exception of 1 hotel owned by an unconsolidated affiliate, which reopened in October 2021, all of the hotels in our ownership segment were open.

During 2020, we recognized impairment losses in our condensed consolidated statements of operations related to certain hotel properties in our ownership segment under operating and finance leases, which included $51 million of operating lease

The performance of our operating segments is evaluated primarily on operating income (loss), without allocating amortization of contract acquisition costs, other revenues and other expenses from managed and franchised properties, other revenues, other expenses or general and administrative expenses.

The following table presents operating income (loss) for our reportable segments, reconciled to consolidated income (loss) before income taxes:

We provide performance guarantees to certain owners of hotels that we operate under management contracts. Most of these guarantees do not require us to fund shortfalls, but allow for termination of the contract if specified operating performance levels are not achieved. However, in limited cases, we are obligated to fund performance shortfalls, creating variable interests in the ownership entities of the hotels, of which we are not the primary beneficiary. As of September 30, 2021, we had 6 performance guarantees, with expirations ranging from 2023 to 2043, and possible cash outlays totaling approximately $20 million. Our obligations under these guarantees in future periods are dependent on the operating performance level of the related hotel over the remaining term of the performance guarantee. We have included the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on these hotels in our expectations of their future operating performance and, as of September 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we accrued current liabilities of $2 million and $7 million, respectively, for our performance guarantees. We may enter into new contracts containing performance guarantees in the future, which could increase our possible cash outlays.

As of September 30, 2021, we guaranteed a $10 million loan, which matures in 2023, for 2 hotels that we franchise. Additionally, we have an agreement with the owner of a hotel that we manage to finance capital expenditures at the hotel, contingent on certain criteria imposed on the owner. As of September 30, 2021, we had remaining possible cash outlays related to this agreement of approximately $10 million; however, we cannot currently estimate the timing of the payments or if they will be made at all, since we will not be obligated to fund such capital expenditures if certain terms of the agreement are not met.

In June 2021, Hilton provided 2 letters of credit totaling $26 million to the owner of a hotel that we will manage to satisfy debt service reserve requirements for their debt with a third party. Each letter of credit will expire at the earlier of the date at which it is fully drawn or 2031.

We receive fees from managed and franchised properties to operate our marketing, sales and brand programs on behalf of hotel owners, which are based on the underlying hotel's sales or usage. As a result of the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our hotels' sales and, ultimately, the program fees we earn, our costs to operate these programs have outpaced the fees received, which, as of September 30, 2021, resulted in $13 million of amounts expended and recognized on behalf of these

We are involved in various claims and lawsuits arising in the ordinary course of business, some of which include claims for substantial sums. While the ultimate results of claims and litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, we expect that the ultimate resolution of all pending or threatened claims and litigation as of September 30, 2021 will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the impact of and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance of our business, our financial results, our liquidity and capital resources and other non-historical statements. In some cases, you can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as "outlook," "believes," "expects," "potential," "continues," "may," "will," "should," "could," "seeks," "projects," "predicts," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "anticipates" or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties including, among others, risks inherent to the hospitality industry, macroeconomic factors beyond our control, such as challenges due to labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, risks related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including as a result of new strains and variants of the virus and uncertainty of acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccines and their effectiveness, competition for hotel guests and management and franchise contracts, risks related to doing business with third-party hotel owners, performance of our information technology systems, growth of reservation channels outside of our system, risks of doing business outside of the U.S. and our indebtedness. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe these factors include, but are not limited to, those described under "Part I—Item 1A. Risk Factors" of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by law.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the global economy and strained the hospitality industry since the beginning of 2020. Our Asia Pacific region began experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020, while the pronounced negative results and suspensions of hotel operations in the Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa ("EMEA") regions did not begin until mid-March 2020. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the pervasiveness and severity of travel restrictions and stay-at-home directives have varied by country and state, fluctuating based on a number of factors, including: (i) COVID-19 infection surges and contractions; (ii) the emergence of new strains and variants of the virus; and (iii) the distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations, which commenced in late 2020. The pandemic had a material adverse impact on our results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 when compared to periods prior to the onset of the pandemic, and although all periods were significantly impacted by the pandemic, none of these periods are considered comparable, and no periods affected by the pandemic are expected to be comparable to future periods. Although we have observed signs of economic recovery, we are still unable to predict the time required for a widespread sustainable economic recovery to take hold on a global scale. Accordingly, given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, the ultimate impact that it will have on the Company’s business, financial performance and results of operations remains uncertain.

Although certain restrictions have been reinstated with the spread of new variants of the virus, the broader distribution of COVID-19 vaccinations in early 2021 and the overall easing of travel and other restrictions have generated renewed interest in travel and tourism activities in many markets around the globe. However, the continued spreading of COVID-19 and its related variants could result in travel and other restrictions being implemented or reinstated in the affected areas, where our hotels may be located, in future periods.

While the restrictions and the reduction in travel resulted in the suspensions of operations at certain hotels throughout 2020, and the operations of approximately 335 hotels were suspended for some period of time during the nine months ended September 30, 2021, reopenings have significantly outpaced suspensions during 2021, and only 69 hotels remained suspended as of October 20, 2021. We expect nearly all of our hotel properties that were suspended for some period of time as a result of the pandemic to be open by the end of 2021.

We analyze our operations and business by both operating segments and geographic regions. Our operations consist of two reportable segments that are based on similar products or services: (i) management and franchise and (ii) ownership. The management and franchise segment provides services, including hotel management and the licensing of our brands and IP. This segment generates its revenue from: (i) management and franchise fees charged to third-party hotel owners; (ii) licensing fees from HGV and strategic partnerships, including co-branded credit card arrangements, for the right to use certain Hilton marks and IP; and (iii) fees for managing properties in our ownership segment. As a manager of hotels, we typically are responsible for supervising or operating the property in exchange for management fees. As a franchisor of hotels, we charge franchise fees in exchange for the use of one of our brand names and related commercial services, such as our reservation systems, marketing and information technology services, while a third party manages or operates such franchised hotels. The ownership segment primarily derives earnings from providing nightly hotel room sales, food and beverage sales and other services at our owned and leased hotels.

Geographically, we conduct business through three distinct geographic regions: (i) the Americas; (ii) EMEA; and (iii) Asia Pacific. The Americas region includes North America, South America and Central America, including all Caribbean nations. Although the U.S., which represented 71 percent of our system-wide hotel rooms as of September 30, 2021, is included in the Americas region, it is often analyzed separately and apart from the Americas region and, as such, it is presented separately within the analysis herein. The EMEA region includes Europe, which represents the western-most peninsula of Eurasia stretching from Iceland in the west to Russia in the east, and the Middle East and Africa ("MEA"), which represents the Middle East and all African nations, including the Indian Ocean island nations. Europe and MEA are often analyzed separately and, as such, are presented separately within the analysis herein. The Asia Pacific region includes the eastern and southeastern nations of Asia, as well as India, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Island nations.

Our strategic objectives include the continued expansion of our global footprint and fee-based business. As we enter into new management and franchise contracts, we expand our business with minimal or no capital investment by us as the manager or franchisor, since the capital required to build and maintain hotels is typically provided by the third-party owner of the hotel with whom we contract to provide management services or license our brand names and IP. Prior to approving the addition of new properties to our management and franchise development pipeline, we evaluate the economic viability of the property based on its geographic location, the credit quality of the third-party owner and other factors. By increasing the number of management and franchise contracts with third-party owners, over time we expect to increase revenues, overall return on invested capital and cash available to support our business needs. While these objectives have not changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current economic environment has posed certain challenges to the execution of our strategy, which have included and may continue to include delays in openings and new development.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2021, we added 320 hotels, consisting of over 51,000 rooms, to our system, contributing to nearly 42,100 net additional hotel rooms. As of September 30, 2021, we had more than 2,620 hotels in our development pipeline that we expect to add to our system in the future, representing 404,000 rooms under construction or approved for development throughout 114 countries and territories, including 27 countries and territories where we do not currently have any existing hotels. Nearly all of the rooms in the development pipeline are within our management and franchise segment. Additionally, of the rooms in the development pipeline, 249,000 rooms were located outside the U.S., and 204,000 rooms were under construction. We do not consider any individual development project to be material to us.

In June 2016, the U.K. held a referendum in which voters approved an exit from the European Union ("E.U.") (commonly referred to as "Brexit"). In December 2020, the U.K. and the E.U. reached a new bilateral trade and cooperation deal governing their future relationship (the "EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement"), which was fully implemented from May 1, 2021. In addition, while the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement provides clarity in respect of the intended future relationship between the U.K. and the E.U. and some detailed matters of trade and cooperation, it remains unclear what general long-term economic, financial, trade and legal implications the U.K. withdrawal from the E.U. will have and how it will ultimately affect our business. While our results as of and for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 were not materially affected by Brexit specifically, we will continue to monitor the potential impact of Brexit on our business in future periods.

We define our comparable hotels as those that: (i) were active and operating in our system for at least one full calendar year as of the end of the current period, and open January 1st of the previous year; (ii) have not undergone a change in brand or ownership type during the current or comparable periods reported; and (iii) have not sustained substantial property damage, business interruption, undergone large-scale capital projects or for which comparable results were not available. Of the 6,699 hotels in our system as of September 30, 2021, 5,572 hotels were classified as comparable hotels. Our 1,127 non-comparable hotels included 66 hotels, or less than one percent of the total hotels in our system, that were removed from the comparable group during the last twelve months because they have sustained substantial property damage, business interruption, underwent large-scale capital projects or comparable results were otherwise not available.

When considering business interruption in the context of our definition of comparable hotels, no hotel that had completely or partially suspended operations on a temporary basis at any time as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic was excluded from the definition of comparable hotels on that basis alone. Despite these temporary suspensions of hotel operations, we believe that including these hotels within our hotel operating statistics of occupancy, average daily rate ("ADR") and revenue per available room ("RevPAR") reflects the underlying results of our business for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020.

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 for a given period. 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 pricing levels as demand for hotel rooms increases or decreases.

ADR represents hotel room revenue divided by the total number of room nights sold for a given period. ADR measures the 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 industry, and we use ADR to assess pricing levels that we are able to generate by type of customer, as changes in rates charged to customers have different effects on overall revenues and incremental profitability than changes in occupancy, as described above.

RevPAR is calculated by dividing hotel room revenue by the total number of room nights available to guests for a given period. We consider RevPAR to be a meaningful indicator of our performance as it provides a metric correlated to two primary and key drivers of operations at a hotel or group of hotels, as previously described: occupancy and ADR. RevPAR is also a useful indicator in measuring performance over comparable periods for comparable hotels.

References to RevPAR, ADR and occupancy are presented on a comparable basis, based on the comparable hotels as of September 30, 2021, and references to RevPAR and ADR are presented on a currency neutral basis, unless otherwise noted. As such, comparisons of these hotel operating statistics for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021 and 2020 use the exchange rates used to translate the results of the Company's foreign operations within its financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2021, respectively, and for the three months ended September 30, 2021 and 2019, use the

EBITDA reflects net income (loss), excluding interest expense, a provision for income tax benefit (expense) and depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated as EBITDA, as previously defined, further adjusted to exclude certain items, including gains, losses, revenues and expenses in connection with: (i) asset dispositions for both consolidated and unconsolidated equity investments; (ii) foreign currency transactions; (iii) debt restructurings and retirements; (iv) furniture, fixtures and equipment ("FF&E") replacement reserves required under certain lease agreements; (v) share-based compensation; (vi) reorganization, severance, relocation and other expenses; (vii) non-cash impairment; (viii) amortization of contract acquisition costs; (ix) the net effect of reimbursable costs included in other revenues and other expenses from managed and franchised properties; and (x) other items.

We believe that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA provide useful information to investors about us and our financial condition and results of operations for the following reasons: (i) these measures are among the measures used by our management team to evaluate our operating performance and make day-to-day operating decisions and (ii) these measures 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. Additionally, these measures exclude certain items that can vary widely across different industries and among competitors within our industry. For instance, interest expense and income taxes are dependent on company specifics, including, among other things, capital structure and operating jurisdictions, respectively, and, therefore, could vary significantly across companies. Depreciation and amortization, as well as amortization of contract acquisition costs, are dependent upon company policies, including the method of acquiring and depreciating assets and the useful lives that are used. For Adjusted EBITDA, we also exclude items such as: (i) FF&E replacement reserves for leased hotels to be consistent with the treatment of capital expenditures for property and equipment, where it is capitalized and depreciated over the life of the FF&E; (ii) share-based compensation, as this could vary widely among companies due to the different plans in place and the usage of them; (iii) the net effect of our cost reimbursement revenues and reimbursed expenses, as we contractually do not operate the related programs to generate a profit over the terms of the respective contracts; and (iv) other items, such as amounts related to debt restructurings and retirements and reorganization and related severance costs, that are not core to our operations and are not reflective of our operating performance.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not recognized terms under GAAP and should not be considered as alternatives, either in isolation or as a substitute, for net income (loss) or other measures of financial performance or liquidity, including cash flows, derived in accordance with GAAP. Further, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered as other methods of analyzing our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are: