EasyHotel targets continental expansion as sales and revenue grow

(Sharecast News) - After an "excellent" performance from newly opened hotels, EasyHotel reported improved room revenue and sales for the year ended 30 September on Monday.The budget hotel operator said total system sales jumped by 25% to £37.2m, while revenue per available room in owned hotels rose by 11% compared to the previous year after the company launched a new revenue management system.Guy Parsons, chief executive of easyHotel, said: "Whilst we are mindful of the current economic uncertainty facing the UK, our simple, stylish and highly affordable customer proposition resonates well with today's cost-conscious traveller and has underpinned strong RevPar growth over the period."The five new hotels opened during the period, based in Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Barcelona, each performed "particularly well", while four new franchise hotels totalling 297 rooms opened in Belfast, Reading, Scheveningen Beach and Maastricht during the period.Plans are also in place for new hotels in Milton Keynes, Cardiff, Chester, Cambridge, Dublin and Blackpool.The new openings increased the AIM traded company's portfolio room count by 42%, while like-for-like revenue from franchised hotels grew by 12%."The team has worked hard to deliver on an ambitious opening programme across the UK and Europe, which has seen the number of owned hotels in our portfolio double over the course of the financial year and our network of rooms across the UK and Europe increase by 42%, including the opening of easyHotel Barcelona, our first owned hotel in Continental Europe," said Parsons.With its successful franchise network already having built a presence in continental Europe, EasyHotel plans to initially target 10 to 15 cities in Spain, France and Germany with an owned-hotel expansion project.EasyHotel's shares were unchanged at 101.50p at 0912 BST.