EasyHotel profit and revenue rise in full year

(ShareCast News) - EasyHotel posted a jump in full-year profit and revenue for the year to the end of September, as it accelerates its development pipeline, with 1,527 rooms now in development.Pre-tax profit rose 38.4% to £1.09m on total revenue of £6.02m, up 8.7% from the year before.Total system sales grew 6.8% to £21.32m while like-for-like owned hotels revenue was up 13% and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose to £1.55m from £1.46m.EasyHotel said revenue grew despite a softening UK hotel market, particularly in London, thanks to the new revenue management and dynamic pricing strategy implemented during the year.This, along with a decision to start selling a limited allocation of rooms via selected on-line travel agencies resulted in all three owned hotels significantly outperforming their competitive set from November 2015 onwards.The company proposed a final dividend of 0.22p per share, taking the total dividend for the year to 0.33p per share.EasyHotel said the UK hotel market performed strongly following the Brexit vote as the weakening of the pound resulted in an increase in staycations and inbound tourism.Chief executive officer Guy Parsons said: "We are on track to deliver the development plans we announced in September 2016. 2015/2016 was a transformational year for EasyHotel, with excellent operational progress made across the business and a significant acceleration of both our owned and franchise hotel development pipelines. "The board remains confident that by exploiting the strength of the brand, EasyHotel will continue to outperform the budget hotel sector as consumers seek out the best value for money."At 0940 GMT, the shares were up 1.6% to 93.50p.