Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. Announces Leading-Edge Joint Development Agreement With IBM Research

BETHESDA, Md., April 26, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:HST) (the "Company") the nation’s largest lodging real estate investment trust ("REIT"), today announced a first-of-its-kind joint development agreement with IBM Research, designed to enhance the company’s predictive analytics capabilities.

James F. Risoleo, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “I am thrilled to announce this collaboration, which will combine Host’s industry-leading Enterprise Analytics platform with IBM’s unparalleled expertise in AI and machine learning, to seek to maximize investment value across the portfolio.” 

The two companies will collaborate to develop predictive models designed to improve investment decisions by leveraging IBM Watson APIs (application programming interface) and research expertise in natural language processing and machine learning to extract predictive insights from structured and unstructured data. 

“Host’s unparalleled scale and access to information affords us many unique opportunities,” said Sourav Ghosh, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Analytics.  “This leading-edge collaboration is one of those incredible opportunities to leverage technology in the rapidly evolving field of predictive analytics, and we want to extract all the benefits that it has to offer.  The more we can predict the future, the better our investment decisions, which we expect will deliver significant value to our stockholders."

“We are excited to launch this research collaboration with the nation’s leader in lodging real estate,” said Sophie Vandebroek, Chief Operating Officer of IBM Research. “We look forward to applying the deep expertise of IBM Research in AI and predictive analytics to help Host work to unlock and connect insights from millions of data points, both qualitative and quantitative, giving them a better picture of the future.”

About Host Hotels & Resorts

Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. is an S&P 500 and Fortune 500 company and is the largest lodging real estate investment trust and one of the largest owners of luxury and upper-upscale hotels. The Company currently owns 87 properties in the United States and 6 properties internationally totaling approximately 52,000 rooms. The Company also holds non-controlling interests in seven domestic and international joint ventures. Guided by a disciplined approach to capital allocation and aggressive asset management, the Company partners with premium brands in the operation of properties in over 50 major markets. For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.hosthotels.com.

About IBM Research

For more than seven decades, IBM Research has defined the future of information technology with more than 3,000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents. Scientists from IBM Research have produced six Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, five U.S. National Medals of Science, six Turing Awards, 19 inductees in the National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame. For more information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research.

Note: This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities regulations. These forward-looking statements include forecast results and are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “plan,” “predict,” “project,” “will,” “continue” and other similar terms and phrases. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those anticipated at the time the forward-looking statements are made. These risks include, but are not limited to: changes in national and local economic and business conditions and other factors such as natural disasters, pandemics and weather that will affect occupancy rates at our hotels and the demand for hotel products and services; the impact of geopolitical developments outside the U.S. on lodging demand; volatility in global financial and credit markets; operating risks associated with the hotel business; risks and limitations in our operating flexibility associated with the level of our indebtedness and our ability to meet covenants in our debt agreements; risks associated with our relationships with property managers and joint venture partners; our ability to maintain our properties in a first-class manner, including meeting capital expenditure requirements; the effects of hotel renovations on our hotel occupancy and financial results; our ability to compete effectively in areas such as access, location, quality of accommodations and room rate structures; risks associated with our ability to complete acquisitions and dispositions and develop new properties and the risks that acquisitions and new developments may not perform in accordance with our expectations; our ability to continue to satisfy complex rules in order for us to remain a REIT for federal income tax purposes; risks associated with our ability to effectuate our dividend policy, including factors such as operating results and the economic outlook influencing our board’s decision whether to pay further dividends at levels previously disclosed or to use available cash to make special dividends; and other risks and uncertainties associated with our business described in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC. Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that the expectations will be attained or that any deviation will not be material. All information in this release is as of April 26, 2018, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the Company’s expectations.

Bret D.S. McLeod
Senior Vice President & Treasurer
240.744.5216

Gee Lingberg
Vice President 
240.744.5275

 

Source: Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.