SPRINGFIELD, MO— For its third quarter ended Sept. 27, John Q. Hammons Hotels reported total revenue $105.9 million, an increase of $5.6 million, or 5.6%, compared to the 2001 third quarter. RevPAR came in at $65.12 for the recent three-month period, improving 7% from $60.85 in the 2001 third quarter. Meanwhile, earnings before interest expense, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) were $27.1 million for the quarter, up 16.8% compared to $23.2 million for the same period last year. However, the company lost $1.1 million for the compared with a $2.1 million loss for the third quarter of 2001. The smaller loss reflects the slowly improving environment for the lodging industry as a whole, the company said. Basic and diluted loss per share for the recent three months was $0.21, compared to basic and diluted loss per share of $0.42 for the third quarter of 2001. These losses include the effects of extraordinary items in the third quarters of both 2002 and 2001 related to the reduction of a portion of the company’s mortgage debt.
