easyHotel plc, the owner, developer, operator and franchisor of “super budget” branded hotels, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2016.
Financial highlights
- Total system sales1,2 up 10.4% to £9.66m (31 March 2015: £8.75m)
- Total revenue2 was up 11.6% to £2.59m (31 March 2015: £2.32m), slightly ahead of Board expectations
- Like-for-like revenue for owned hotels increased by 8.0%
- Adjusted EBITDA3 up 10.9% to £0.58m (31 March 2015: £0.52m)
- Profit before tax was £0.14m (31 March 2015: £0.37m), reflecting increased pre-opening costs (associated with the increased development pipeline), depreciation and amortisation and share based payments
- Interim dividend of 0.11p per share (31 March 2015: nil)
Business highlights
- Five owned hotel projects in progress with £4.59m of investment made during the period:
- Construction commenced on sites in Liverpool and Manchester
- Planning permission granted in Birmingham with completion expected in a few weeks’ time
- Planning permission submitted for new hotels in Barcelona and Ipswich
- Three new franchise hotels under construction in Brussels, Amsterdam and Bur Dubai (first hotel to be developed under Master Development Partnership signed with MAN Investments LLC to develop easyHotels in the UAE and Oman)
Commenting on the results, Guy Parsons, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“Trading in the first half of financial year 2015/16 was slightly ahead of the Board’s expectations as owned hotels started to benefit from the new revenue management strategy. This momentum has continued into the beginning of the second half, traditionally the busiest trading months of the year for hoteliers, and full year trading is on track to meet the Board’s expectations.
The Board remains focused on operational efficiency whilst ensuring the Company has the right infrastructure and resources in place to execute the growth strategy. The Company’s committed owned and franchise pipeline is currently expected to add more than 1,000 rooms to the network over the next two years.
With more opportunities, both owned and franchise, available than had been expected the Board is considering its funding options to take full advantage of these opportunities. The Board remains confident that it can secure properties in major and regional UK cities as well as key European gateway cities whilst leveraging the strong brand to increase easyHotel’s presence in the growing branded super budget hotel segment.”