Choice Hotels Reports Share Repurchases of 1.3 Million Shares Year-to-Date; Company Comfortable With 1st Quarter Consensus EPS Estimate of $0.24.Business Editors SILVER SPRING, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2003 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 reported that, since the first of the year, it has repurchased approximately 1.3 million shares of its common stock under the existing 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. authority granted by its Board of Directors. As a result of the repurchases made during the first quarter of 2003, the company now has approximately 35.9 million shares of common stock outstanding, compared to the 37.2 million shares reported on December 31, 2002. The company also announced it is comfortable with the first quarter 2003 diluted earnings per share diluted earnings per share An earnings measure calculated by dividing net income less preferred stock dividends for a period by the average number of shares of common stock that would be outstanding if all convertible securities were converted into shares of consensus estimate of 24 cents. Choice Hotels International is one of the world's largest lodging franchisors, marketing more than 5,000 hotels open or under development in 39 countries under the Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Clarion, 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. , 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 brand names. For more information on Choice, visit the company's web site at www.choicehotels.com. Certain matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements 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 in 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 therein, 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-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. for the period ended September 30, 2001. Additional corporate information may be found on the Choice Hotels' Internet site, which may be accessed at www.choicehotels.com Comfort, Quality, Clarion, Sleep Inn, Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, MainStay Suites, Choice Privileges, EA$Y CHOICE and ChoiceBuys.com are registered trademarks, service marks and trade names of Choice Hotels International, Inc. Choice Hotels also owns and uses common law marks, including Profit Manager. |
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