easyHotel plc (“easyHotel”) (“the Group”) (AIM: EZH) the owner, developer and operator of super budget branded hotels, today announces its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2018 (“the period”).
Financial highlightsSix Months Ended 31 March
Six Months Ended 31 March | 2018 | 2017 | |
Total system sales | £16.10m | £12.05m | +33.6% |
Revenue | £4.76m | £3.14m | +51.7% |
Adjusted EBITDA2 | £0.98m | £0.65m | +51.0% |
Profit before tax | £0.09m | £0.06m | +52.5% |
Interim dividend per share (Pence) | 0.07p | 0.11p |
(Cash distribution maintained on an enlarged share base)
Business highlights
Continued market outperformance
- Owned hotels Revpar3 up 11.2%, significantly outperforming the market by 11.7%
- Franchise hotels performing well with like-for-like revenue increasing by 13.5%
- Adjusted EBITDAR2 margin increasing to 23.6% (H1 2017: 20.7%)
Network expansion – new openings expected to increase Group’s room portfolio by 38% by the end of the calendar year
- Three new hotels totalling 269 rooms opened during the period, all trading in-line with expectations
- Four new owned hotels (517 rooms) and five new franchised hotels (411 rooms) scheduled to open this calendar year
- 453 owned rooms and 221 franchised rooms added to the development pipeline since 1 October 2017
- Strong balance sheet with significant headroom to fund investment pipeline with net cash as at 31 March 2018 of £58.1m (30 September 2017: £21.2m) following the recent fund raise.
Commenting, Guy Parsons, CEO of easyHotel plc, said:
“easyHotel delivered another strong performance in the first half of our financial year, growing market share in every market in which it operates. The Group’s successful £50 million fundraising is already fuelling further expansion and since the placing completed in March 2018 we have been delighted to announce further additions to our development pipeline with new sites acquired in Cambridge and Chester.
“As has been widely reported, industry data points to more challenging trading conditions in the overall UK hotel market whilst the European market continues to perform well. Our growing portfolio of European hotels are trading strongly. Whilst we remain mindful of UK consumer sentiment we believe our super budget offer is appropriately aligned to the needs of discerning and value conscious customers. Group trading remains in line with our expectations and we expect the brand to continue to outperform the market.
“easyHotel now has a growing network of stylish hotels, a strengthening brand, a talented team and strong, asset-backed balance sheet with significant headroom to fund further investment. We will continue to seize opportunities in our UK, European and international markets, balancing our owned hotel development between UK and European assets to create value for our shareholders and underpin the long-term growth of the easyHotel brand.”