ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS.
Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (“Ryman”) is a Delaware corporation that conducts its operations so as to maintain its qualification as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for federal income tax purposes. The Company conducts its business through an umbrella partnership REIT, in which all of its assets are held by, and operations are conducted through, RHP Hotel Properties, LP, a subsidiary operating partnership (the “Operating Partnership”). RHP Finance Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Finco”), was formed as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Operating Partnership for the sole purpose of being a co-issuer of debt securities with the Operating Partnership. Neither Ryman nor Finco has any material assets, other than Ryman’s investment in the Operating Partnership and its 100%-owned subsidiaries. As 100%-owned subsidiaries of Ryman, neither the Operating Partnership nor Finco has any business, operations, financial results or other material information, other than the business, operations, financial results and other material information described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and Ryman’s other reports, documents or other information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). In this report, we use the terms the “Company,” “we” or “our” to refer to Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. and its subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.
The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report and our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes for the year ended December 31, 2018, included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K that was filed with the SEC on February 26, 2019.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains “forward-looking statements” intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements concern our goals, beliefs, expectations, strategies, objectives, plans, future operating results and underlying assumptions, and other statements that are not necessarily based on historical facts. Without limitation, you can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts, and these statements may contain words such as “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “might,” “projects,” “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “continue,” “estimate,” or “pursue,” or the negative or other variations thereof or comparable terms. In particular, they include statements relating to, among other things, future actions, strategies, future performance, the outcome of contingencies such as legal proceedings and future financial results. These also include statements regarding (i) the effect of our election to be taxed as a REIT and maintain REIT status for federal income tax purposes; (ii) the holding of our non-qualifying REIT assets in one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”); (iii) our announced dividend policy, including the frequency and amount of any dividend we may pay; (iv) potential growth opportunities, including future expansion of the geographic diversity of our existing asset portfolio through acquisitions and our investment in the joint venture (the “Gaylord Rockies joint venture”) that owns the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, Colorado (“Gaylord Rockies”); (v) Marriott International, Inc.’s (“Marriott’s”) ability to effectively manage our hotels and other properties; (vi) our anticipated capital expenditures and investments; (vii) the potential operating and financial restrictions imposed on our activities under existing and future financing agreements and other contractual arrangements with third parties, including management agreements with Marriott; and (viii) any other business or operational matters. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and projections about future events.
We caution the reader that forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified, and, consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among other things, risks and uncertainties associated with the economic conditions affecting the hospitality business generally, the geographic concentration of our hotel properties, business levels at our hotels, our ability to remain qualified as a REIT, our ability to execute our strategic goals as a REIT, our ability to generate cash flows to support dividends, future board determinations regarding the timing and amount of dividends and changes to the dividend policy, our ability to borrow funds pursuant to our credit agreements and to refinance indebtedness, changes in interest rates and those factors described in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 or described from time to time in our other reports filed with the SEC.