Sunstone Hotels’ Bright Forecast

Despite signs of overbuilding in parts of the hotel sector, Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc. is poised to achieve a 27% growth rate in funds from operations in the second quarter and at least 17% in full year 1998, said Bob Alter, the company’s chairman and chief executive.

The San Clemente-based hotel real-estate investment trust is on track to report funds from operations of 38 cents a share in the second quarter, up from 30 cents a year ago, and $1.57 to $1.61 in full year 1998, compared with $1.34 in 1997, Alter said Monday.

It’s the company’s western focus, its interest in regions where zoning or land costs make it difficult for competitors, and its ability to turn around troubled or dilapidated full-service hotels in key growth markets that have driven Sunstone’s success, he said.

These strategies, he said, have helped shelter Sunstone from overdevelopment that has hampered other hotel companies, he said.