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Courtesy Wyndham Destinations
Timeshare company
Travel + Leisure
reported improved earnings as key markets such as Las Vegas and Hawaii had better demand.
Travel + Leisure (ticker: TNL) earned an adjusted 39 cents a share in the first quarter, versus a loss of 98 cents a year earlier as revenue climbed by 13% to $628 million.
The company, along with its peers, was hit hard during the pandemic last year as leisure travel plummeted. But the first quarter, especially March, showed signs of improvement. “Our operating performance strengthened significantly in March, with a robust sequential improvement in our key metrics,” CEO
Michael Brown
said in a press release Wednesday.
The stock was at $65.69, up fractionally in early trading Wednesday. The stock has returned about 47% in 2021, dividends included.
Travel + Leisure changed its name from Wyndham Destinations earlier this year after it acquired the travel company for $100 million. Although committed to the timeshare business, Travel + Leisure has suggested that it will explore other niches in the travel business.
Truist Securities analyst Patrick Scholes wrote in a research note Wednesday that the company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda, of $129 million was well above consensus estimates. The company’s second-quarter guidance include adjusted Ebitda of $160 million to $170 million.
A company spokesman said that March timeshare resort bookings for customers arriving this year were up 15% compared to a year earlier. Bookings for timeshare exchanges through its travel and membership segment were up 21% versus the corresponding period in 2020. In contrast, bookings in January and February were down by double digits.
Net revenue from vacation ownership, or timeshare sales, totaled $449 million in the first quarter, up 11% from $403 million a year earlier.
Travel + Leisure plans to recommend a second-quarter dividend of 30 cents a share. The Orlando, Fla.–based company cut its quarterly payout last year from 50 cents a share to 30 cents, but it has maintained it at that level throughout the pandemic.
Write to Lawrence C. Strauss at [email protected]