4/22/2026

speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Greetings. Welcome to Travel and Leisure's first quarter 2026 earnings conference call and webcast. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. The question and answer session will follow the forum presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero from your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. At this time, it is now my pleasure to turn the conference over to Andrew Burns, Vice President of Investor Relations. Thank you, Andrew. You may now begin.

speaker
Andrew Burns
Vice President of Investor Relations

Thank you, Rob. Good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that our discussion today will include forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements, and the forward-looking statements made today are effective only as of today. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ are discussed in our SEC filings and our press release accompanying this earnings call. You can find a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures discussed in today's call in the earnings press release available on our investor relations website. Please note that all references to EBITDA, net income, diluted earnings per share, and free cash flow made during the call are on an adjusted basis as disclosed in our earnings release. This morning, Michael Brown, our President and Chief Executive Officer, will provide an overview of our results and our longer-term growth strategy. And then Eric Hogue, our Chief Financial Officer, will provide greater detail on our results, capital allocation strategy, and outlook for 2026. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call up for questions. Finally, all comparisons today are to the same period of the prior year unless specifically stated. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mike.

speaker
Michael Brown
President and Chief Executive Officer

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. Travel and Leisure delivered another great quarter. Thanks to the hard work of our team, we are caring for the positive momentum achieved in 2025. First quarter EBITDA exceeded guidance, driven by strong execution in our vacation ownership business and resilient owner demand. In the quarter, we achieved gross VOI sales growth of 7%, even a margin expansion of 180 basis points and EPS growth of 31%. Our strategy starts with delivering outstanding vacation experiences for our owners and members. We convert that owner's satisfaction into recurring demand, predictable cash flow, and consistent capital returns. Our first quarter results are a clear validation of that strategy and a proof point of the durability of our model, even as the macroeconomic environment remains uncertain. In the quarter, we generated revenue of $961 million, EBITDA of $225 million, and EPS of $1.45, with compounding growth across the P&L. We are seeing continued strength in our vacation ownership business with 7% gross VOI sales growth and above plan BPG. Tour growth of 5% was above our 2025 tour growth rate of 3%. I'd like to emphasize that we achieved these impressive results while executing on our resort optimization initiative, which naturally pressures those metrics. During the quarter, we returned $128 million to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Our dividend increased 7% to $0.60 per share, and we repurchased 1.2 million shares in the quarter. At the same time, we are investing in the business to drive long-term profitable growth. We continue to make meaningful progress advancing our multi-brand strategy and digital roadmap And this balanced approach, delivering near-term results and returning meaningful cash to investors while investing for the future, is central to how we create long-term shareholder value. Since our last call, macroeconomic uncertainty and geopolitical risk have been prominent in the news. I'd like to start with recent trends we are seeing with our consumer and across the business. Overall, our owner base remains healthy. They are prioritized in travel, and we are not seeing any meaningful shifts in their behavior. First quarter gross bookings were up year-over-year. The booking window remained steady at approximately 100 days, and average length of stay is unchanged year-over-year at just over four days. The distance traveled to our resorts in Q1 was actually up slightly to last year, indicating consumers' willingness to travel to our resorts. The data suggests that in uncertain economic times, our value proposition becomes even more relevant. For the 80% of owners that have paid off their loan, they're vacationing for the cost of annual maintenance fees. This value proposition is clear to our owners, and is best reflected in our 97% retention rate for owners that are current on their loan or paid it off. As we enter our peak sales season, we are mindful of the macro backdrop and its potential to influence consumer behavior. That said, the trends we are seeing remain healthy, Our value proposition continues to resonate, and the model is performing as designed, positioning us to outperform across cycles. During the quarter, we continue to make meaningful progress advancing our multi-brand strategy and saw clear proof points of its success. Margaritaville is rapidly approaching $150 million in annual VOI sales, reflecting the success of our revitalization efforts and new partnerships. In the Accor Vacation Club brand, we expect to nearly double our VOI sales in 2026. We also began selling Eddie Bauer Adventure Club at select sales centers. In March, we welcomed guests to our first Eddie Bauer Resort in Moab, Utah. We are seeing strong interest and early momentum has exceeded our expectations. Sports Illustrated Resorts sales are now underway at our new National Sales Center. We also announced our new Sports Illustrated Resort location in Baton Rouge, home to Louisiana State University and Southern University. As the brand's fourth resort, Baton Rouge is a highly complimentary, sports-centric university market that fits well within the club's growing portfolio. Overall, combined VOI sales from these brands are expected to approach 10% of our sales mix this year, and we expect that to increase further in the years ahead. Scaling our multi-brand strategy remains a critical pillar of our long-term growth plan, enabling us to reach new customer segments and meaningfully expand our addressable markets. The progress we are seeing across the portfolio gives us confidence that this strategy is gaining traction and developing as we envisioned. On the partnership front, we recently renewed and expanded a five-year agreement with United Parks and Resorts, owner of SeaWorld and Busch Gardens, building on the highly successful strategic partnership that began in 2013. In addition to our current on-site kiosk and promotional activations, the new agreement expands our presence across additional parks. This meaningfully increases our ability to introduce new families to our vacation club offerings and provide current owners with exclusive events and experiences. Overall, the expanded partnership strengthens our top-of-funnel demand prospects and supports new owner growth. Turning to the Resort Optimization Initiative we announced last quarter, this effort involves removing a small number of aging, lower-demand resorts to strengthen our overall resort system for owners while also improving the financial health of travel and leisure in our club HOAs. I'm pleased to report that we are realizing all the expense savings outlined last quarter, and we've been able to sustain our historical sales growth rates despite the resort closures. In summary, we've started 2026 from a position of strength with clear visibility into the key drivers of our performance and momentum in our core vacation ownership business. We are reiterating our full-year outlook, and I remain confident in our ability to drive growth, generate meaningful cash flow, and continue creating long-term shareholder value. Now, I'll turn the call over to Eric to further elaborate on our results, capital allocation framework, and outlook. Eric.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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