Host Hotels issues stock after earnings beat

NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters) - Host Hotels Inc (HST.N) will offer 66 million shares of common stock on Friday at a price of $6.60 per share in an effort to head off what it expects will be a weak 2009 for the company.

The stock offer comes a day after Host Hotels, a lodging real estate investment trust, beat estimates with a first-quarter net loss applicable to common shareholders of $63 million, or 12 cents per share, versus $52 million, or 10 cents per share.

Adjusted for one-time items, Host Hotels had funds from operations (FFO) of 18 cents a share, beating analyst estimates of 11 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Total revenue fell more than 16 percent, to $171 million. Comparable revenue per available room, or RevPAR, fell nearly 20 percent.

Host is one of the largest owners of luxury and upscale hotels, and owns hotels operated by companies like Marriott International (MAR.N), which also posted results on Thursday.

The company's shares were up more than 7 percent to $7.65 in New York Stock Exchange trade. Like those of many of its peers, shares have more than doubled since early March when the stock market tumbled to 12-year lows.

In its earnings release, the company said it expects the economy will continue to depress hotel operating results "across the portfolio."

Comparable hotel RevPAR is expected to fall 18 to 20 percent for the full year, the company said.

Host Hotels plans to shore up resources by completing an expected $100 million worth of "non-core" asset sales through 2009. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; editing by Gunna Dickson)