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Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (HST)

Q2 2017 Earnings Call· Thu, Jul 27, 2017

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, please stand by, we are about to begin. Good day and welcome to the Host Hotels & Resorts, Incorporated Second Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Ms. Gee Lingberg, Vice President. Please go ahead, ma'am. Gee Lingberg - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Thanks, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to the Host Hotels & Resorts second quarter 2017 earnings call. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that many of the comments made today are considered to be forward-looking statements under Federal securities laws. As described in our filings with the SEC, these statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause future results to differ from those expressed, and we are not obligated to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements. In addition, on today's call we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial information, such as FFO, adjusted EBITDA, and comparable hotel results. You can find this information, together with reconciliation, to the most directly comparable GAAP information, in today's earning's press release, in our 8-K filed with the SEC, and the supplemental financial information on our website at hosthotels.com. This morning, Jim Risoleo, our President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide an overview of our second quarter results, and provide our outlook for 2017. Greg Larson, our Chief Financial Officer, will then provide greater detail on our second quarter performance by markets, discuss margins, and the balance sheet. Following their remarks, we will be available to respond to your questions. And now, I'd like to turn the call over to Jim. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Thank you, Gee. And thanks, everyone, for joining us this morning. We are very pleased to report solid…

Operator

Operator

And we'll go first to Barclays with Anthony Powell.

Anthony Powell - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Management

Hi. Good morning, everyone. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Good morning. Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Good morning, Anthony.

Anthony Powell - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Management

Morning. You mentioned the strength of Leisure demand several times in your prepared remarks. Looking back, have you seen prior examples where Leisure out-performed business transient for an extended period of time? And how long do you think this dichotomy could last? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: It's a good question, Anthony. I think that we're very, very pleased with the book of business we're seeing from the leisure traveler. So long as consumer confidence remains strong, and unemployment remains low, and people feel good about their wallet and their balance sheet, we expect to see the leisure traveler continuing to spend money. We see no slowdown. If anything, we're seeing acceleration. So, we like nothing better than to see the business traveler return and put us in a better position to yield rates in an even more aggressive manner at the hotel.

Anthony Powell - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Management

Got it. Thanks. And as a follow-up, I think in the past you said Leisure made up about 30% of your overall room night mix. Has that mix changed in recent years? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: No. It's about the same.

Anthony Powell - Barclays Capital, Inc.

Management

All right. Great. That's it from me. Thank you. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Sure. Great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Next we'll go to Shaun Kelley of Bank of America.

Shaun C. Kelley - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Greg, you mentioned some detail around the margins, and I think in the last part of the prepared remarks that you kind of see some benefits on the – from the Marriott-Starwood merger and integration. Do you think both in the performance that we saw this quarter, and possibly then on the RevPAR side, you're seeing any of that benefit sort of real time? Or do you think more of the opportunity from the merger is slated to come in the months and years ahead? Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Yes. I think – look, we're benefiting, obviously, from quite a few of the things I mentioned this year, the time motion study, the energy ROI project, the Green Choice program, et cetera, but I think the benefit that will accrue to us from the Starwood-Marriott merger, really that's going to happen later. Either late this year, or really into 2018 and 2019 as well.

Shaun C. Kelley - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Got it. And I guess, as we think about sort of the broader overall mix, and we look at the portfolio, it feels like this quarter we saw a demonstrable out-performance in some of the kind of non-top five or top ten cities. You know places like Denver, Phoenix, I guess even Seattle, as we head forward, A, do you think that pattern is likely to continue? And B, what's your plans for how you view your portfolio right now in terms of – I think over time, people probably try to prune and get out of some of those, the kind of – let's call it, non-top 10 markets, what's Host view towards those top 10 or 15 markets versus your overall diversification? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Shaun, that's a really good question. I think that we are very comfortable with the geographic diversity that we have in the portfolio today. I've mentioned in the past that we're very open-minded to looking beyond the top 10 to 12 markets that we had invested in, and in fact, while the Phoenician in and of itself is non-comp right now because of a renovation plan that we have ongoing, that asset is in Phoenix, that is a good example of the type of property that we'll be looking for, a large asset with scale, and an asset where we can add a lot of value. So I don't think that you will see us exiting those markets for the sake of exiting them. I think I'd go back to the comments that I made earlier. If we have a non-core hotel that is situated in a market that's under – that is likely to under-perform the rest of the portfolio over time, and is in need of a lot of capital outside of the reserve, those are the types of assets that we'll continue to prune.

Shaun C. Kelley - Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Management

Thanks very much.

Operator

Operator

And we'll go next to Rich Hightower from Evercore.

Richard Allen Hightower - Evercore ISI

Management

Hey. Good morning, guys. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Good morning, Rich.

Richard Allen Hightower - Evercore ISI

Management

So let's – I want to break down the back half guidance a little bit. So it really does sound like Brazil, combined with the holiday shifts, were throwing a wrench into the third quarter, certainly vis-à-vis the fourth quarter if not the first half, as well. I'm just trying to get a sense of – and I appreciate the color you guys give on the contribution of EBITDA, relative to the full year, and so we can sort of back into some numbers that way. But what is the breakdown between RevPAR and margins in the third quarter versus the fourth quarter, if you don't mind? And if we go negative, how negative could it be in the third quarter? Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Hey, Rich. This is Greg. Hey, look, I clearly agree with almost everything you just said there. Clearly we are, as we mentioned in Jim's comments, impacted in a positive way because of the Inauguration and the Women's March in the first half of the year, and my comments – as I mentioned in my comments, Brazil, even though we only own two small hotels and the JW down in Brazil, those three hotels will impact our RevPAR by 100 basis points just in the third quarter. So there is some noise, as we've all talked about. I think the other thing I would add that sort of impacts first half, second half, is we have two hotels that just became comped this year, the Camby hotel and the Logan hotel, and those two hotels are really ramping up in a meaningful way this year. Clearly had strong RevPAR growth year-to-date. Those hotels are going to perform more in line with our portfolio on the second half of the year. So that's one additional item that sort of skews first half, versus second half. But, Rich, as you know, we don't give third quarter guidance here, I do try to help you out by telling you how much EBITDA, but look, I think, when I look at the shift of the Jewish holiday, and think about, you know, 100 basis point impact from Brazil, we should think that clearly, for us, I think RevPAR is going to be negative in the third quarter. And then as Jim mentioned, it rebounds in a strong manner in the fourth quarter.

Richard Allen Hightower - Evercore ISI

Management

Okay. That's very helpful, Greg. Thanks. And then just one quick question on some of the quarterly results from 2Q. As I kind of look at Host's performance versus the STR MSA tracks that most of us get on a weekly basis, you did out-perform in several of those markets. I'm curious though, if you take markets like San Francisco, D.C., maybe Boston as well, how your CBD assets did relative to maybe some of the suburban assets in those markets? Just given some of the particulars last quarter? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Hey, Rich. You know San Francisco might be the best example of what you just described. In total, all right our RevPAR declined 2.8% compared to the STR data, which is down 5%, 6%, obviously great out-performance. But when you look at our big hotels, the Moscone Center, it was down about 2.8%, so similar performance as some of our more, I guess, suburban properties around San Francisco. Yeah, I think, the one thing that really helped us in San Francisco is that our revenue manager, our asset managers, and our manager, we identify this quarter and this year as being, obviously it was going to be a weak year in San Francisco. And so because of that, they really focused on booking in-house Group business, which really, I think, helped us in the quarter. They also booked some, what I would say, high rated contract business, which also helps us out in the quarter. So with the benefit of hindsight, sitting here today, I think that was a great strategy and really helped our results. In fact, frankly, if you look at, sort of the branded hotels in the area around the San Francisco, Moscone property, frankly, most of those hotels were down double-digits in RevPAR. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: And Rich, I'll give you just a little bit of color on Washington, D.C., looking at suburban versus CBD hotels. So we continue to be very focused on driving performance at every property in the portfolio, and a good example of that, I think, is the Westfield's Marriott, which is not in the central core of Washington, D.C., but we had strong in-house Group performance in that property in particular. And our RevPAR for that hotel exceeded our previous forecast, as once we had the Group on the books, we were able to yield a stronger Transient business in the property, as well. <: That's great color, guys. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

Up next, we turn to Thomas Allen from Morgan Stanley. Thomas G. Allen - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Hey. Good morning. So just on the EBITDA revisions, or the 2017 guidance revisions, how much of – so what would have been the – what's the impact from the additional property sale that you're assuming? And I'm assuming that's not the Melbourne sale that you had already anticipated last earnings, right? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: That's correct, Thomas. The undisclosed disposition that we referenced in the press release and our remarks, will have an effect – a negative effect of about $2.5 million, roughly, for the balance of the year. Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Which is in our guidance. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Yes. Of course it's in our guidance. And so the $20 million would have been closer to $23 million. Thomas G. Allen - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: Perfect. And then I think there's been some concern in the market, just that if you looked at the STR data, June RevPAR decelerated from May despite it should have gotten the benefit from the July 4 shift. Did you feel like there was any kind of change in demand trends in June versus the prior quarter – or prior months and quarters? Thanks. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: No, we did not, Thomas. Actually, we had a pretty good June. I'm not going to give you specific RevPAR numbers, but we're really comfortable with how June performed. Thomas G. Allen - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: I guess July, also? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Yeah, July, and look, obviously we're still in July, but so far July has been pretty decent as well, compared to our internal forecast. Thomas G. Allen - Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC: All right. Thank you. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Thanks.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Michael Bellisario with Robert W. Baird. Michael J. Bellisario - Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.: Good morning, guys. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Hey, Michael. Michael J. Bellisario - Robert W. Baird & Co., Inc.: First question just on acquisitions. Jim, how far off do you think you are on pricing? And then maybe from your seat with your investment history and acquisitions history, are you seeing others underwriting differently than you are? Or do you think it's just simply a cost of capital difference that you guys have versus your competitors out there today? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Well, I don't think it's necessarily a cost of capital difference, Michael. I think that as we're looking at investment opportunities today, I think, first and foremost, we don't think it's time to be a buyer of any commodity type of asset, so we are focused at this point in the cycle, on unique hotels that I would categorize as iconic and would fall into that section of the assets that we own today. We are taking into consideration the growth environment that we're operating in as we're underwriting hotels, and as we've talked before, we take into account a full 10 year capital plan, and look to solve for an un-leveraged IRR on a 10 year basis that is at least 100 basis points in excess of our cost of capital, if not higher, depending on the facts and circumstances of the particular deal. So we have not – I wouldn't say that we're wildly off underwriting expectations, pricing the expectations of buyers today, but I would say that given the attractiveness of the debt markets, and the availability of debt capital, both from a…

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Ryan Meliker of Canaccord Genuity.

Ryan Meliker - Canaccord Genuity, Inc.

Management

Hey, Jim, I guess just one for you. You've now been in the big seat for six months, obviously been with the company a lot longer, but I'm just wondering if there's anything that you've learned over the past six months that's surprised you, or has caused you to rethink some ideas you had coming into the seat? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Boy, I'd say, if anything, Ryan, I've come to appreciate better what a great company Host is. When I sit back and look at the attributes of Host Hotels & Resorts, and I look at the geographically diverse portfolio that we have, which I think is unmatched by anyone else in the industry, the scale that we have, the access to information, and the ability to utilize that information to be effective on asset management, and effective on the acquisition side, and then the balance sheet that we have never been in better shape. I'm really excited about where we sit, and I think that the results that we had for this quarter, and the fact that we were able to beat consensus and raise estimates is a testament to everything that I just referred to in many ways. So, no surprises. Excitement, and looking at ways to move the company forward as we think about where we are in the cycle, and what the next leg might be.

Ryan Meliker - Canaccord Genuity, Inc.

Management

Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it, Jim. And then as we think about going forward, as we move through the cycle, and what the next leg may be, coupled with the balance sheet that you just mentioned that's obviously in great position, where do you see Host, you know, call it five years from now? Is Host going to be a lot bigger? Are you going to continue to prune – prune the portfolio and one-off transactions, similar to what you've been doing this year? Do you see M&A on the horizon? How are you thinking about the portfolio on a go forward basis? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Well, you know, it's difficult to answer that question in a vacuum because it's so dependent upon what happens in the economy, and whether or not we see a re-acceleration of economic growth depending on what comes out of Washington, and general economic trends. So the thought that I have is, I want to make certain that Host is the best performing REIT in the space. And the actions we take will be with an eye towards increasing our performance, increasing our margin performance, and out-performing as we look to the future.

Ryan Meliker - Canaccord Genuity, Inc.

Management

Okay. Thanks.

Operator

Operator

And from Deutsche Bank, we'll go next to Chris Woronka.

Chris J. Woronka - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

Hey. Good morning, guys. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Morning, Chris.

Chris J. Woronka - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

Morning. I wanted to ask you about your Hyatt Hotels. I think you have about nine of them, and I know they're going through kind of a contract re-negotiation of sorts with a couple of the OTAs. What are – do you – is there any embedded – do you think there's – that's going to create any kind of friction for you temporarily in the third quarter? And I think they've sent the owners some communications about their plans, but I mean, do you see that as a potential source of surprise for you? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: You know, Chris, I'm going to be careful with how I answer this question, because we've been in close communication with Hyatt, and as you might imagine, we are among the many owners in the industry that advocate for lower distribution costs. And I feel that over time Hyatt's strategy will achieve this result for us, and really that's about all I want to say on this subject.

Chris J. Woronka - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

Okay. Fair enough. Also, I want to ask you on the – I know on the non-comparable hotel guidance, I think that is up $9 million or so at the midpoint versus prior. I guess the question is kind of, how much visibility do you have on that? And then, looking out to next year, maybe, Greg, can you explain to us how the comps suddenly change next year? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Yeah. So, I mean, Chris, as you mentioned, I mean, obviously we've been very pleased with our non-comp and our comp results so far this year. In fact, if you look at year-to-date, our non-comp is up north of 13% in RevPAR growth. So I would expect when I look at the non-comp assets that are in the group, Denver Tech, the Hyatt in San Francisco, which is actually up over 20% in the quarter in RevPAR, you know the Marriott Marquis in San Diego, Axiom, and our two new acquisitions, The Don and W; I would expect all those hotels to continue to have decent results in the second half of this year. As far as which assets will fall out? I think, the Marriott Marquis, I think becomes comp next year. But – and I know the Axiom becomes comp next year. Beyond that, really what we always try to do is have a full year sort of what we would consider normalized results, before we put it into comp. So, it's hard for me, sitting her today, knowing fairly exactly what will be non-comp next year.

Chris J. Woronka - Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc.

Management

Okay. Very good. Thanks, guys.

Operator

Operator

Up next, we'll go to Smedes Rose of Citigroup.

Smedes Rose - Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Management

Hi. Thank you. I just wanted to ask you how you're thinking about your position in New York? We've just sort of heard anecdotally that buyers are perhaps more interested in the market now, given that the pace of new supply is likely to start declining. Do you think that's accurate? And maybe, just in terms of the overall portfolio re-positioning, are you interested in selling a property or more here? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Smedes, I think you are starting to see some interest in New York. There's a lot of noise in background here. The city has undertaken an initiative with respect to Midtown East rezoning, which will likely be approved and signed into law in – later in August through September of this year. I think that that could potentially open up opportunities for re-purposing of certain hotels today to office/residential. So, we – as you know, we have a number of properties in Midtown, we're looking at a number of the assets. We've had conversations with different prospective purchasers. I would not say today that we're close to a deal, but it is something that's at the top of our list.

Smedes Rose - Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Management

Thank you. That was it.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Patrick Scholes, SunTrust.

Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.

Management

Hi. Good morning. My question is on your expectations for the fourth quarter. Certainly you know October has a very easy Group comp, but what do you think about the strength or weakness of Group business in November and December? Thank you. Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Hey, Patrick. As you probably already know, since you're a specialist on forecasting future RevPAR, you know November...

Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.

Management

That's not bad. (52:28). Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: You know, I think November, surprisingly, even though it's a difficult time, November looks pretty decent right now. And, as Jim said in his prepared remarks, we expect a real rebound in the fourth quarter. Now having said that, we think it's probably, it's a decent quarter, but it's probably our second best quarter of the year.

Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.

Management

Now, let me – let me – let me quiz you a little bit more here. I completely agree with you on November. This is interesting because a year ago, November, sort of a surprised to the upside. November, I would say, is one of the harder back half comps. Why do you think November looks decent for groups? And, I relate that to, when I go back and look at Smith Travel results around the election, it doesn't look like there is a terrible easy comp. I mean, group was up 15% or 17% the week after the election. I mean, what do you think might me going on for another good November here? Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: I mean, Pat, it's a great question. If you remember, you know, November of last year was really the first year that we, and I think the industry in total, actually we all feed our internal forecast after experiencing about a year, a year and a half of always sort of coming up short on internal forecast, November was a very strong month. December was a strong month, and obviously for us, the first quarter and strong quarter were both strong months, and first quarter is strong quarter, and second quarter is strong as well. So, it's a good question. Look, all I know, I don't know if I have a specific answer, but what I can tell when I look at our group booking pace in the second quarter, especially in November and December, looks real decent sitting here today.

Patrick Scholes - SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc.

Management

Okay. Thank you for the comment.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Bill Crow of Raymond James. William A. Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.: Good morning, guys. Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Good morning. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Good morning, Bill. William A. Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.: First question is going back to something you said earlier about the potential savings from Starwood Marriott merger. I'm just curious, you referenced slower OTA commissions. What is the average commission, OTA commission you're paying today, and if we had to take a guess, how many basis points could we see that decline over the next year or two years? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Yeah, Bill, I think, that, you know, when we look at our sort of Starwood legacy hotels and look at the contract that they had versus Marriott. You know, I think, once those contracts are fully negotiated, you know, my guess is, we save a point or two points, which is, you know, obviously material. I mean, the other – so the – but the other thing that we're hoping for obviously, Marriott as a larger company going forward, I mean, I'm speculating now, but I'm hoping as a bigger company, they have more leverage in the future on negotiations as well. William A. Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.: Okay. And then, the follow-up was on Europe, just with the weaker dollar here in the back half of the year. I'm just curious whether that has had an impact on your forecast for the balance of the year and whether you are contemplating now that you've kind of cleaned up Australia, whether you looked at Europe as a potential area for capital recycling? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Great question, Bill. I would say with respect to inbound international travel, it's probably neutral to up a bit. We are happy from our perspective to see the dollar weaken a bit because we do think we'll see more inbound travelers. With respect to Europe generally, as you know, Europe contributes roughly 2.5% of our EBITDA on an annual basis, and we are invested through a joint venture with two really terrific partners, the Government of Singapore, and APG, and it's been a great relationship. We've been in the Euro JV since 2006. That said, we are evaluating the way forward in Europe, and a couple things can cause one to stop and think, well, cost of capital in Europe is – appears to be much more aggressive than it is in the U.S. So, frankly, it makes it more difficult for us to compete. And we start with that premise, and we'll take it from there. William A. Crow - Raymond James & Associates, Inc.: All right. That's it from me. Thank you. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Thanks, Bill.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Jeff Donnelly of Wells Fargo.

Jeff J. Donnelly - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Management

Good morning, guys. Just first I want to ask a follow-up on Moscone. The Group booking contribution from Moscone is just marginally better in 2018 than it was in 2017, so I'm just curious, I know it's early, but is it your sense that San Francisco could commence a recovery in RevPAR as early as next year? Or is your sense that 2018 could be more of another year of, call it, transition, before we really get into that period of 2019 and 2020, where the Moscone bookings are quite strong? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Jeff, I would – I would agree with the latter comment that you made. I think that as we look at city-wide events in San Francisco for 2018, it is not as strong as 2017 or 2016. We really start to see Group room nights come back on the books in 2019. 2019 is the year when we're likely to see performance levels in total Group room nights of 2016.

Jeff J. Donnelly - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Operator

That's helpful. And then – and then, just another question on the expense growth. I mean, it's been pretty low this year. Can you maybe talk about how much longevity you feel there is to holding expense growth low? Is that going to be isolated to 2017, and pretty persistent to 2018, if you think RevPAR, you know, kind of remains around this 1% to 2% level? And I guess, maybe a second part to that. We had estimated some of the synergies that you guys might face from the Marriott Starwood combination to ultimately approach call it 50 basis points to 100 basis points cumulative on margins over the next few years. Do you think that's a reasonable estimate of the tailwind you could get from Marriott Starwood? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Jeff, to answer your first question is it sustainable? We're working really hard at making it sustainable. As we mentioned, we have completed time and motion studies at a number of the hotels in the portfolio. We're continuing to roll those studies out throughout the portfolio to improve productivity and improve margin on a regular basis. So Greg also mentioned that when he talked about other avenues that we're taking along with our managers to enhance productivity like how you schedule housekeeping rooms and the Green Choice. I mean, we're looking for continuous and working with our managers to find new initiatives that's going to allow us to be more productive in our hotels and keep costs down. Answering your question regarding the impact of the Marriott Starwood merger going forward, I don't think that your assumption is unreasonable at all. Over the next two years to three years as the companies are fully integrated we will likely see benefits top line as well once the rewards programs are fully integrated, hopefully by the end of 2018. So when I look at margin performance I think it's difficult in many ways to separate margin performance from RevPAR performance. So all in all we feel really good about what's happening with the Marriott Starwood integration and the fact that the Marriott is managing 81% of our rooms.

Jeff J. Donnelly - Wells Fargo Securities LLC

Operator

Great. Thanks, guys.

Operator

Operator

From UBS we turn next to Robin Farley.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst

Great. Thanks. Two questions. One is just looking at your change in RevPAR guidance for the year it mostly has sort of gone up by the amount of the beat in the second quarter just at the midpoint. So how should we think about – is your outlook for the second half pretty much the same as what you thought it was a quarter or so ago? Is that the best way to think about that? And then I have another question. Thanks. Gregory J. Larson - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Hey, Robin. This is Greg. Yeah, I think that you're generally right that our increase in – if you look at the midpoint of our RevPAR guidance increasing nearly 38 basis points, it's primarily because of the success that we've had in the both the first and second quarter beating our internal forecast. And I think we pretty much sitting here today have a similar outlook for the second half of the year.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst

Okay. That's helpful. Thank you. And then just in the opening comments, Jim, you'd mentioned that you've like looked at some opportunities that didn't meet your IRR standards, and can you give us a sense of just what type – were they portfolios, or individual property similar to the Don and the W acquisitions you've made, where they just sort of individual properties, and is it that there were other bidders that, you know, had a lower cost of capital or something? James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Well, I'm not certain that – Robin, I don't think I said that the other bidders had a lower cost of capital. I think, we're very comfortable with our cost of capital, and that puts us in a position to compete, to create accretive value over time, and we underwrite for that perspective. So, they were not portfolios, they were single asset deals, and we spent a lot of time in one in particular, we were very close on it, and frankly, as I mentioned earlier in a response to, I think, a question that Michael raised, when a buyer can go out and borrow at very attractive rates – I'm sorry, in order to go out and borrow very attractive rates or high proceeds levels, yes, they change their mind. And they decide they want to own the asset, I think for many of the same reasons that we continue to be cautiously optimistic about where we're going.

Robin M. Farley - UBS Securities LLC

Analyst

Okay. Great. Thank you.

Operator

Operator

This concludes today's question and answer session. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Risoleo for closing remarks. James F. Risoleo - Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.: Well, thank you for joining us on the call today. As I said earlier, we are pleased with our solid results, earnings fee, and 2017 guidance range across the board. We look forward to providing you with more insight into the remainder of 2017 on our third quarter call this fall. Have a great day, and enjoy the rest of your summer.

Operator

Operator

And this does conclude today's presentation. Thank you all for your participation. You may now disconnect.