Extended Stay America (STAY) has reported a 35.52 percent jump in profit for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2017. The company has earned $23.10 million, or $0.12 a share in the quarter, compared with $17.05 million, or $0.08 a share for the same period last year.

Revenue during the quarter went up marginally by 1.19 percent to $290.99 million from $287.56 million in the previous year period. Gross margin for the quarter expanded 194 basis points over the previous year period to 51.32 percent. Total expenses were 81.81 percent of quarterly revenues, up from 77.83 percent for the same period last year. That has resulted in a contraction of 398 basis points in operating margin to 18.19 percent.

Operating income for the quarter was $52.93 million, compared with $63.76 million in the previous year period.

However, the adjusted EBITDA for the quarter stood at $129.60 million compared with $122.80 million in the prior year period. At the same time, adjusted EBITDA margin improved 183 basis points in the quarter to 44.54 percent from 42.70 percent in the last year period.

The Company's chief executive officer, Gerry Lopez, commented, "We were pleased with our strong topline finish and our solid expense discipline throughout the first quarter. This led to results finishing above our guidance for both RevPAR as well as Adjusted EBITDA. Additionally, both Adjusted Paired Share Income and Adjusted FFO per diluted Paired Share grew more than 10% in the first quarter." Mr. Lopez continued, "With our strong free cash flow and outlook for 2017 and beyond, we continue to focus on returning capital to shareholders. This morning, our Boards approved raising our quarterly dividend by 10.5% to $0.21 per Paired Share, marking the third year in a row since becoming a public company that we have increased our dividend by over 10%. This represents a roughly 5% annual yield at recent trading prices. In addition to our strong dividend, in the last 14 months the Company has repurchased and retired over 5% of our Paired Shares outstanding. We remain firmly committed to strong capital returns to shareholders as our free cash flow continues to increase and as we recycle capital."

For fiscal year 2017, Extended Stay America projects revenue to be in the range of $1,285 million to $1,310 million. The company expects net income to be in the range of $174.65 million to $188.49 million.