2 Linked Hotel Firms Show 1st-Quarter Loss

Hotel Investors Trust and Hotel Investors Corp., whose shares are paired together on the New York Stock Exchange and which jointly report their financial results, posted a $388,000 loss in the first quarter, compared with year-earlier profit of $1.21 million.

Woodland Hills-based Hotel Investors Trust invests in lodging properties, while Hotel Investors Corp. is a hotel management concern. The companies said their loss in the quarter that ended March 31 came despite a gain in revenue to $27.5 million from $19.7 million.

They blamed the loss largely on the recent rise in interest rates, which increased their borrowing costs to finance property purchases. Higher depreciation charges related to those acquisitions also eroded earnings, they said.