Red Lion Hotels reports net loss for 2016

Red Lion Hotels Corp., the Spokane-based hospitality company, lost $4.7 million in 2016, the company reported Tuesday. That compares to a profit of $2.7 million in 2015.

Red Lion, which operates and franchises upscale, midscale and economy hotels, reported that adjusted earnings for the year were up 56 percent, to $19.5 million.

For the fourth quarter, Red Lion had a net loss of $2.3 million, compared to a net loss of $6.3 million in 2015.

The company said it completed $26 million in renovations of hotels owned through joint ventures last year and signed 86 new franchise agreements across RLHC and recently acquired brands.

Ambitious company growth has placed Red Lion Hotels in the top 10 hotel franchise companies in the country with over 1,100 hotels and 73,000 rooms.

“Our most recent results mark a strong finish to a formative year for RLHC,” President and CEO Greg Mount said in a statement. “We continued our transformation to an asset light model and substantially grew our franchise business with our recent acquisition that enabled us to establish a national and international presence.”

Red Lion said it anticipates signing another 90 to 120 hotel franchise agreements this year.

“Over the past two years, RLHC has made significant progress in growing its brands and franchise network and we look forward to building on those efforts this year,” Mount said.