- Acquired a boutique lifestyle hotel in Nashville

- Increased quarterly dividend to $0.05 per common share

- Successfully exited covenant waivers

- Repurchased common shares

RLJ Lodging Trust (the “Company”) (NYSE: RLJ) today reported results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2022.

Highlights

• Pro forma RevPAR of $146.05 for Q2; representing 92% of 2019 levels, improving 36% from Q1
• Total revenue of $330.5 million
• Net income attributable to common shareholders of $26.7 million
• Net income per basic and diluted share attributable to common shareholders of $0.16
• Pro forma Hotel EBITDA of $118.6 million
• Adjusted EBITDA of $111.0 million
• Adjusted FFO per basic and diluted common share and unit of $0.49
• Repurchased 4.2 million common shares for $50.0 million with proceeds from asset sales
• Increased quarterly cash dividend to $0.05 per common share
• Acquired a boutique lifestyle hotel in Nashville in July for $59.0 million
• Successfully exited the covenant waiver period under corporate credit facilities
• Maintained a strong balance sheet with approximately $1.1 billion of liquidity, including $511.5 million of unrestricted cash

“Our second quarter results significantly outperformed our expectations, led by the performance of our urban markets, which were the major beneficiary of strengthening business travel and greater citywide attendance, that drove outsized growth during the weekdays, in addition to robust leisure demand. The surge of demand in our urban markets drove our results to sequentially improve each month of the quarter, which continued into July,” commented Leslie D. Hale, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Against this improving backdrop, our strong balance sheet allowed us to execute multiple capital allocation initiatives, including advancing our three 2022 conversions, accretively recycling capital into share repurchases, and acquiring a high-quality boutique lifestyle hotel in downtown Nashville. Our accelerating performance allowed us to exit our covenant waivers, and our confidence in the sustainability of our cash flows enabled us to meaningfully increase our dividend.”

The prefix “pro forma” as defined by the Company, denotes operating results which include results for periods prior to its ownership and excludes sold hotels. Pro forma RevPAR and pro forma Hotel EBITDA Margin are reported on a comparable basis and therefore exclude any hotels sold during the period and non-comparable hotels that were not open for operation or were closed for renovation for comparable periods. Explanations of EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel EBITDA, Hotel EBITDA Margin, FFO, and Adjusted FFO, as well as reconciliations of those measures to net income or loss, if applicable, are included within this release.

Operational Update

Lodging fundamentals continued to accelerate throughout the second quarter, benefiting from summer travel, ramping corporate and group demand, and stronger citywide attendance. These positive trends led to a significant step up in demand within urban markets, which has continued into July. RLJ’s Urban hotel RevPAR achieved the strongest growth during the second quarter, achieving 95% of 2019 levels in June. Improving corporate demand also drove positive momentum in weekday results which strengthened throughout the second quarter. These improving trends led the Company to achieve pro forma RevPAR of $146.05 and pro forma Hotel EBITDA of $118.6 million during the second quarter, which represented approximately 92% and 91% of 2019 levels, respectively, with each achieving new highs since the beginning of the pandemic. This positive momentum from the second quarter has continued into the third quarter.

Acquisition

In July, the Company acquired the fee simple interest in a 124-room boutique lifestyle hotel in Nashville for a purchase price of $59.0 million, or approximately $476,000 per key. The hotel is expected to generate an estimated 8.0% to 8.5% stabilized NOI yield and an accretive stabilized RevPAR nearly double that of the rest of the Company’s portfolio. The Company funded the acquisition with existing cash on its balance sheet.

Dispositions

As previously disclosed, during the second quarter, the Company sold the SpringHill Suites Denver North Westminster for gross proceeds of approximately $14.5 million. Year-to-date the Company has sold two hotel properties for combined sales prices of approximately $49.9 million.

Share Repurchases

During the second quarter, the Company repurchased approximately 4.2 million common shares for $50.0 million, at an average price per share of $11.93. As of August 4, 2022, the Company's share buyback program has $200.0 million of remaining capacity.

Balance Sheet

As of June 30, 2022, the Company had approximately $1.1 billion of total liquidity, comprising of $511.5 million of unrestricted cash and $600.0 million available under its revolving credit facility ("Revolver"), and $2.2 billion of debt outstanding. The Company has no debt maturities until 2023.

The Company has exited both the covenant waiver period and leverage relief period under its credit facilities. The impact of these exits includes the reinstatement of financial covenants, the elimination of the minimum liquidity financial covenant, the elimination of certain spending limitations, and reinstatement of the pre-waiver pricing grids.

Dividends

The Company’s Board of Trustees declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.01 per common share of beneficial interest of the Company in the second quarter. The dividend was paid on July 15, 2022 to shareholders of record as of June 30, 2022. Subsequently, on July 29, 2022 the Company’s Board of Trustees also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.05 per common share of beneficial interest of the Company for the third quarter. The dividend will be paid on October 17, 2022 to shareholders of record as of September 30, 2022.

The Company's Board of Trustees declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4875 on the Company’s Series A Preferred Shares in the second quarter. The dividend was paid on July 29, 2022 to shareholders of record as of June 30, 2022. Subsequently, on July 29, 2022 the Company's Board of Trustees also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.4875 on the Company’s Series A Preferred Shares for the third quarter. The dividend will be paid on October 31, 2022 to shareholders of record as of September 30, 2022.

2022 Outlook

Given continued uncertainties the Company is unable to provide a future outlook at this time.

Earnings Call

The Company will conduct its quarterly analyst and investor conference call on August 5, 2022 at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Time). The conference call can be accessed by dialing (877) 407-3982 or (201) 493-6780 for international participants and requesting RLJ Lodging Trust’s second quarter earnings conference call. Additionally, a live webcast of the conference call will be available through the Company’s website at http://www.rljlodgingtrust.com. A replay of the conference call webcast will be archived and available through the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website for two weeks.

Supplemental Information

Please refer to the schedule of supplemental information for additional detail and pro forma operating statistics, which is available through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website.

About Us

RLJ Lodging Trust is a self-advised, publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns primarily premium-branded, high-margin, focused-service and compact full-service hotels. The Company's portfolio currently consists of 96 hotels with approximately 21,200 rooms, located in 23 states and the District of Columbia and an ownership interest in one unconsolidated hotel with 171 rooms.

Forward Looking Statements

This information contains certain statements, other than purely historical information, including estimates, projections, statements relating to the Company’s business plans, objectives and expected operating results, and the assumptions upon which those statements are based, that are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the use of the words “believe,” “project,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “plan,” “may,” “will,” “will continue,” “intend,” “should,” “may,” or similar expressions. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance and our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements and urges investors to carefully review the disclosures the Company makes concerning risks and uncertainties in the sections entitled “Risk Factors,” “Forward- Looking Statements,” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual Report, as well as risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed in other documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

RLJ Lodging Trust

Non-GAAP and Accounting Commentary

Non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“Non-GAAP”) Financial Measures

The Company considers the following non-GAAP financial measures useful to investors as key supplemental measures of its performance: (1) FFO, (2) Adjusted FFO, (3) EBITDA, (4) EBITDAre, (5) Adjusted EBITDA, (6) Hotel EBITDA, and (7) Hotel EBITDA Margin. These Non-GAAP financial measures should be considered along with, but not as alternatives to, net income or loss as a measure of its operating performance. FFO, Adjusted FFO, EBITDA, EBITDAre, Adjusted EBITDA, Hotel EBITDA, and Hotel EBITDA Margin as calculated by the Company, may not be comparable to other companies that do not define such terms exactly as the Company.

Funds From Operations (“FFO”)

The Company calculates Funds from Operations (“FFO”) in accordance with standards established by the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, or NAREIT, which defines FFO as net income or loss (calculated in accordance with GAAP), excluding gains or losses from sales of real estate, impairment, the cumulative effect of changes in accounting principles, plus depreciation and amortization, and adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. Historical cost accounting for real estate assets implicitly assumes that the value of real estate assets diminishes predictably over time. Since real estate values have instead historically risen or fallen with market conditions, most real estate industry investors consider FFO to be helpful in evaluating a real estate company’s operations. The Company believes that the presentation of FFO provides useful information to investors regarding the Company’s operating performance and can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between real estate investment trusts (“REITs”), even though FFO does not represent an amount that accrues directly to common shareholders.

The Company’s calculation of FFO may not be comparable to measures calculated by other companies who do not use the NAREIT definition of FFO or do not calculate FFO per diluted share in accordance with NAREIT guidance. Additionally, FFO may not be helpful when comparing the Company to non-REITs. The Company presents FFO attributable to common shareholders, which includes unitholders of limited partnership interest (“OP units”) in RLJ Lodging Trust, L.P., the Company’s operating partnership, because the OP units are redeemable for common shares of the Company. The Company believes it is meaningful for the investor to understand FFO attributable to all common shares and OP units.

EBITDA and EBITDAre

Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (“EBITDA”) is defined as net income or loss excluding: (1) interest expense; (2) provision for income taxes, including income taxes applicable to sales of assets; and (3) depreciation and amortization. The Company considers EBITDA useful to an investor in evaluating and facilitating comparisons of its operating performance between periods and between REITs by removing the impact of its capital structure (primarily interest expense) and asset base (primarily depreciation and amortization) from its operating results. In addition, EBITDA is used as one measure in determining the value of hotel acquisitions and dispositions.

In addition to EBITDA, the Company presents EBITDAre in accordance with NAREIT guidelines, which defines EBITDAre as net income or loss (calculated in accordance with GAAP) excluding interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization expense, gains or losses from sales of real estate, impairment, and adjustments for unconsolidated partnerships and joint ventures. The Company believes that the presentation of EBITDAre provides useful information to investors regarding the Company's operating performance and can facilitate comparisons of operating performance between periods and between REITs.

Adjustments to FFO and EBITDA

The Company adjusts FFO, EBITDA, and EBITDAre for certain items that the Company considers either outside the normal course of operations or extraordinary. The Company believes that Adjusted FFO, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDAre provide useful supplemental information to investors regarding its ongoing operating performance that, when considered with net income or loss, FFO, EBITDA, and EBITDAre, is beneficial to an investor’s understanding of its operating performance. The Company adjusts FFO, EBITDA, and EBITDAre for the following items:

• Transaction Costs: The Company excludes transaction costs expensed during the period
• Pre-Opening Costs: The Company excludes certain costs related to pre-opening of hotels
• Non-Cash Expenses: The Company excludes the effect of certain non-cash items such as the amortization of share-based compensation, non-cash income taxes, and non-cash expense related to discontinued interest rate hedges
• Other Non-Operational Expenses: The Company excludes the effect of certain non-operational expenses representing income and expenses outside the normal course of operations

Hotel EBITDA and Hotel EBITDA Margin

With respect to Consolidated Hotel EBITDA, the Company believes that excluding the effect of corporate-level expenses and certain non-cash items provides a more complete understanding of the operating results over which individual hotels and operators have direct control. The Company believes property-level results provide investors with supplemental information about the ongoing operational performance of the Company’s hotels and the effectiveness of third-party management companies.

Pro forma Consolidated Hotel EBITDA includes prior ownership information provided by the sellers of the hotels for periods prior to our acquisition of the hotels, which has not been audited and excludes results from sold hotels as applicable. Pro forma Hotel EBITDA and pro forma Hotel EBITDA Margin exclude the results of non-comparable hotels that were under renovation or not open for the entirety of the comparable periods. The following is a summary of pro forma hotel adjustments:

Pro forma adjustments: Acquired hotels

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, pro forma adjustments included the following acquired hotels:

• Hampton Inn & Suites Atlanta Midtown acquired in August 2021
• AC Hotel Boston Downtown acquired in October 2021
• Moxy Denver Cherry Creek acquired in December 2021

Pro forma adjustments: Sold hotels

For the three and six months ended June 30, 2022 and 2021, pro forma adjustments included the following sold hotels:

• Courtyard Houston Sugarland sold in January 2021
• Residence Inn Chicago Naperville sold in May 2021
• Residence Inn Indianapolis Fishers sold in May 2021
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Chicago Southeast Hammond sold in July 2021
• Residence Inn Chicago Southeast Hammond sold in August 2021
• Courtyard Chicago Southeast Hammond sold in August 2021
• Embassy Suites Secaucus-Meadowlands ground lease expired in October 2021
• DoubleTree Hotel Metropolitan New York City sold in December 2021
• Marriott Denver Airport at Gateway Park sold in March 2022
• SpringHill Suites Denver North Westminster sold in April 2022

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