Choice Board Authorizes Three Million Share Increase in Repurchase Program; Board Sets Quarterly Dividend At $0.13 Per Share.SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CHH CHH Cartilage Hair Hypoplasia CHH Crustacean Hyperglycemic Hormone CHH Carter Holt Harvey Limited (Australia & New Zealand) CHH Chuan Hup Holdings Limited (Singapore) CHH Certified Hardware Hosineer ) today announced its Board of Directors has authorized an increase under the Company's existing stock repurchase Stock repurchase A firm's repurchase of outstanding shares of its common stock. program to acquire up to an additional three million shares of its outstanding common stock. "This increase in our share repurchase Share Repurchase A program by which a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This is usually an indication that the company's management thinks the shares are undervalued. authorization gives us additional flexibility to take advantage of market conditions to further enhance shareholder value," said Charles A. Ledsinger, Jr., president and chief executive officer. "With 2.1 million shares still available under the previous authorization, we now have 5.1 million shares available for future repurchase." Choice expects to repurchase shares from time to time in the open market and through negotiated private transactions, subject to market and other conditions. Since the repurchase program was announced in June 1998, Choice has repurchased approximately 66.6 million shares. The repurchased shares will be held in treasury and may be used by Choice for general corporate purposes, including future acquisitions and the Company's stock-based employee and director benefit plans. As of December 7, 2005, Choice has approximately 65 million shares of common stock outstanding. The Board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.13 per share of common stock, payable January 20, 2006, to shareholders of record as of January 6, 2006. About Choice Hotels International Choice Hotels International is one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, marketing more than 5,000 hotels open or under development in more than 40 countries under the Cambria Suites, Clarion, Quality, Comfort Suites, Comfort Inn, Sleep Inn, MainStay Suites Mainstay Suites is a brand of mid-priced extended stay hotels franchised by Choice Hotels International. Mainstay Suites hotels provide comfortable and affordable accommodations to extended stay travelers as well as provide many amenities to its guests. , Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge Econo Lodge is an economy motel chain based in the United States. Econo Lodge is the second largest brand in the Choice Hotels system. It is one of the best known names of its category and provides affordable rooms to budget travelers. and Rodeway Inn Rodeway Inn is an upper-priced economy chain of motels in the United States and Canada. Rodeway Inn is a brand of the Choice Hotels group. There are over 150 locations in North America. brand names. For more information on Choice, visit the company's web site at www.choicehotels.com. Choice Hotels, Choice Hotels International, Cambria Suites, Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Econo Lodge and Rodeway Inn are proprietary trademarks and service marks of Choice Hotels International. (C) 2005 Choice Hotels International, Inc. All rights reserved. Certain matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. within the meaning of the federal securities law. Such statements are based on management's beliefs, assumptions and expectations, which in turn are based on information currently available to management. Actual performance and results could differ from those expressed or contemplated by the forward-looking statements due to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond Choice's ability to predict or control. For further information on factors that could impact Choice and the statements contained herein, we refer you to the filings made by Choice with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on Form S-4 and report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the year ended December 31, 2004. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion