Spokane-based Red Lion Hotels on Tuesday announced it lost $6.6 million in the first quarter of 2012, a net loss of 34 cents per share, compared to a net loss from continuing operations of $4.5 million or 24 cents per share, in the first quarter of 2011. 

In the first quarter of 2012, comparable EBITDA from continuing operations (before special items) improved to $1.2 million, compared to a loss of $.5 million in the first quarter of 2011.

Since hotels are a unique industry, earnings include an occupancy and REVPAR (revenue per available room) formula to track numbers.

For this past quarter, the occupancy for its owned and leased hotels was 52 percent; average daily rate was $72.29 and REVPAR for the quarter was $40.21.

That's up, except for ADR, from the first quarter of 2011, when the three key numbers were 48.4 percent, $77.47 and $37.47.

RevPAR growth outpaced the midscale hotel segment and resulted in an increase in total revenue and EBITDA, said President and Chief Executive Officer Jon E. Eliassen.

"We successfully implemented targeted sales and marketing programs that allowed us to improve occupancy in what is typically our slowest period, without sacrificing rate," he said.

The company's WestCoast Broadway show and ticket selling segment declined $0.3 million primarily as a result of lower sales volume in the ticketing portion of the business. However, overall profitability for the segment improved as a result of the mix of shows produced in the first quarter of 2012, the company said in a release.

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