EHG.L Regulatory News (EHG)

15 May 2018

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

Elegant Hotels Group plc - Half Year Results Statement

Solid financial and operational performance in a stabilising market

Elegant Hotels Group plc ("Elegant Hotels", the "Company" or the "Group"), the owner and operator of seven upscale freehold hotels and a beachfront restaurant on the island of Barbados, today announces its unaudited results for the six months ended 31 March 2018.

Unaudited Financial Highlights

· Revenue up 8% to $38.8m (H1 2017: $35.8m)

· RevPAR (revenue per available room) up 5% to $292 (H1 2017: $279)

· ADR (average daily rates) up 2% to $433 (H1 2017: $425)

· Adjusted EBITDA* up 1% to $15.4m (H1 2017: $15.3m)

· Adjusted profit before tax down 7% to $11.4m (H1 2017: $12.2m)

· Adjusted EPS (cents per share) of 10.5c (H1 2017: 11.0c)

· Implied Net Asset Value (NAV) of 199 cents per share (143 pence per share **)

· Interim dividend declared at 1.33 pence per share (H1 2017: 3.5 pence per share)

Operational Highlights

· Opened Treasure Beach hotel, a 35 suite hotel, in December 2017 resulting in a 6% increase in room count to 588 (H1 2017: 553)

· Established a centralised warehouse in order to increase operational efficiencies and take advantage of direct importation of food and beverage

· Construction of Hodges Bay Resort in Antigua, the Group's first management contract and its first hotel outside Barbados, nearing completion

· Occupancy increased to 67% (H1 2017: 66%)

* The Group uses adjusted EBITDA as a measure of performance as it better represents underlying performance. Adjusted EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and one-off items that are outside the ordinary course of business. Adjusted profit and adjusted EPS reflect the adjusted EBITDA figure.

Please note that due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this document may not add up precisely to the totals provided. Percentage changes are calculated on unrounded figures.

** based on an exchange rate of £1 : $1.40

Commenting on the results, Sunil Chatrani, CEO of Elegant Hotels, said:

"We are pleased to have delivered a solid financial and operational performance in the first half of the financial year. The high end hotel market in Barbados appears to be stabilising after several challenging years, and we have a strong pipeline of bookings for the remainder of the financial year. As a result, we remain comfortable with the FY18 outlook versus market expectations and confident in the Group's longer term prospects."

Analyst Presentation

A presentation of the results for analysts and institutional investors will take place at 9.00am today at etc. venues, 51-53 Hatton Garden, Clerkenwell, London, EC1N 8HN.

For those unable to attend in person, the dial-in details are as follows:

For further information:

Elegant Hotels Group plc

Sunil Chatrani, Chief Executive Officer +1 246 432 6500

Jeff Singleton, Chief Financial Officer

Liberum Capital Limited (NOMAD and Joint Broker)

Clayton Bush / Chris Clarke / William Hall +44 (0) 203 100 2222

Zeus Capital Limited (Joint Broker)

John Goold / Dominic King +44 (0) 203 829 5000

Powerscourt

Rob Greening / Lisa Kavanagh / Isabelle Saber +44 (0) 207 250 1446

Email: eleganthotels@powerscourt-group.com

Notes to Editors:

Elegant Hotels owns and operates seven luxury freehold hotels and a beachfront restaurant, Daphne's, on the island of Barbados. The Group's portfolio currently comprises 588 rooms, making it twice as large (by room number) as the closest competitor in the Barbados luxury hotel room market. Six of the seven properties are situated along the prestigious west coast of Barbados commonly known as the "Platinum Coast". The properties are all freehold, with a total aggregate plot size of approximately 23 acres and an aggregate beachfront of 2,600 feet.

In the year ended 30 September 2017, the Group achieved revenue of $59.9 million and EBITDA before non-recurring items of $18.1 million.

Together, the Group's seven existing hotels - Colony Club, Tamarind, The House, Crystal Cove, Turtle Beach, Waves Hotel & Spa and Treasure Beach - offer styles encompassing classic and contemporary, family-friendly and adults-only. The Group also has a management contract for Hodges Bay Resort in Antigua and a sales and marketing contract for The Landings Resort & Spa in St. Lucia.

The Group's strategy is to leverage its position as a leading hotel operator in Barbados and to expand both on Barbados as well as further into the Caribbean.

Investor website: http://www.eleganthotelsgroup.com/ 

Commercial website: http://www.eleganthotels.com/

BUSINESS REVIEW

Market overview

Market conditions in Barbados appear to be stabilising after several challenging years, during which demand was affected by the weaker pound and increased competition, especially in the all-inclusive segment. There continues to be a trend towards value accommodation but this is being offset by increased airlift and visitor numbers to the island.

For example, recent data from the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. shows that arrivals from North America increased by 3% in the last quarter of 2017. Room nights from this region now account for 17% of the Group's overall room nights (H1 2017: 16%). This growth reflects the success of the Group's marketing efforts in the North American market and is helped in particular by the popularity of Waves hotel with these guests.

The UK remains the Group's primary market, accounting for 72% of room nights (H1 2017:76%). The Group's rates are priced in USD, and the value of Sterling has improved significantly from the prior comparative period which has effectively lowered prices for UK guests. The effect on revenue is not yet evident which is due in part to the advance booking window for the Group's properties. However, the Group's advance bookings for the next fiscal year (2018/19) are currently higher than at the same time in the comparative period.

The newly revamped Elegant Hotels website forms an important aspect of the Group's direct market strategy. The website acts as an information portal for customers which will ultimately be converted through the Group's reservation team. Direct bookings increased to 23% from 22% in the prior period.

Revenue

Revenue for the first half of the year was $38.8 million, which was $3.0 million (8%) higher than H1 2017 ($35.8 million). The increase was driven by good performances from Colony Club, Waves and Turtle Beach, as well as Daphne's, which was closed for refurbishment during some of the prior comparative period.

In addition, Treasure Beach contributed a modest amount of new revenue in the period. The property opened in mid-December 2017, which was later than originally anticipated due in part to extreme weather events in Miami that delayed imports of materials. It therefore missed the peak season and, as a result, produced lower than expected revenue for the period.

Overall occupancy grew by one percentage point to 67% (H1 2017: 66%). This was driven by occupancy increases at Colony Club, The House and Turtle Beach. The public areas of the House were refurbished at the end of the previous financial year, which enabled the Group to improve its occupancy at the property by four percentage points, as well as increasing its rate. This represents the latest example of Elegant Hotels' ability to improve the financial performance of its hotels through its three-step programme of refurbishing, repositioning and repricing.

ADR increased 2% to $433 (H1 2017: $425). This movement was largely driven by Waves, which was able to add over 20% to its rate as the property becomes increasingly well established.

Profitability

After adjusting for one-off items, EBITDA was $15.4 million (H1 2017: $15.3 million), 1% higher than the prior period.

The Group's gross margin reduced by one percentage point in the period. In H2 2017, the Government of Barbados increased the National Social Responsibility Levy (NSRL), a tax on goods imported into Barbados, from 2% to 10%. While the hospitality sector is exempt from some aspects of the tax, its effect has increased the Group's cost base across both local and imported goods in Barbados. In response to the increase in the NSRL, the Group has commenced a direct importation programme. This involved the establishment of a centralised warehouse in order to purchase food and beverage on behalf of all of the Group's hotels. The warehouse became fully operational in March 2018, and direct importation is expected to produce savings on the Group's cost base of circa $0.5m on an annual basis.

Adjusted EBITDA margin at 40% was three percentage points lower than the prior period, primarily due to the effect of the gross margin decrease as well as increased costs relating to energy and other utility costs, the establishment of the warehouse, and the Group's Sterling-denominated plc costs.

Adjusted profit before tax decreased 7% in the period to $11.4 million (H1 2017: $12.2 million). This reflected increases in depreciation due to the acquisition of Treasure Beach in H2 2017 and higher financing costs. Net finance costs increased by $0.4 million as a result of movements in the US LIBOR rate (from an average of circa 75 basis points in H1 2017 to an average of circa 155 basis points in H1 2018) and $0.2 million from additional debt of $8.4 million associated with the Treasure Beach acquisition.

Reported profit after tax reduced to $8.8 million in H1 2018 from $9.2 million in the prior period. Reported profit included one-off costs of $0.7 million (H1 2017: acquisition and other one-off costs of $0.7 million), primarily reflecting Treasure Beach pre-opening costs and further restructuring expenses.

Net debt and net asset value

The Group has third party debt with the Scotiabank in the form of a loan facility of $65.2 million. In addition, the Group has an overdraft facility of $10 million, of which $3.9 million was drawn down at 31 March 2018, and a revolving credit facility of $5 million, of which $4.3 million was drawn down at 31 March 2018. The Group also has a vendor loan remaining in relation to the Waves acquisition of $1 million.

The Group's net debt position of $72.3 million is set out in the table below. Based on adjusted EBITDA for the trailing 12 months, the Group has an adjusted EBITDA to net debt ratio of under four times. This internal KPI is used by the Board to assess the Group's levels of debt. The Group continues to comply with all covenants with comfortable headroom.

The Group's property portfolio was recently valued by CBRE at $249.5 million as at 1 January 2018. This is a decrease of $17.7m (6.6%) from the previous valuations which totalled $267.2 million and were based on valuations provided by CBRE in 2015 (at the time of the IPO) and subsequent valuations by Terra Caribbean for Waves (2016) and Treasure Beach (2017).

Based on net debt of $72.3 million as at 31 March 2018, this equates to an implied net asset value (NAV) of approximately $177.2 million (199 cents per share or 143 pence share, based on an exchange rate of £1 : $1.40).

Reconciliation of net debt and net asset value

Cash flow

The Group's free cash flow (defined as cash flow from operations less capital expenditure) was $4.5 million (H1 2017: $5.2 million). The free cash flow movement reflects improved cash flow from operations ($8.6 million versus $8.0 million in H1 2017), offset by an increase in capital expenditure to $4.1 million (H1 2017: $2.8 million) primarily as a result of the refurbishment of our latest acquisition, Treasure Beach hotel.

Delivering on the Group's strategy

The Group is constantly seeking to improve its day-to-day operational excellence, and continues to receive positive feedback and guest satisfaction scores, which in turn lead to healthy levels of repeat business. The Group employs over 1,000 local people in its operations. The training and development of these staff remains paramount to the Group's success. The Group has invested circa 30,000 hours in its staff over the last year.

In addition, Elegant Hotels has two further strategic pillars: developing and enhancing the existing portfolio and looking for opportunities to expand throughout the Caribbean.

During the period, the Group completed the refurbishment of Treasure Beach hotel, which it acquired in May 2017. This 4-star, 35-suite hotel is the adjoining property to Elegant Hotels' Tamarind hotel, which in turn is situated next to Daphne's and The House. As a result, four of Elegant Hotels' properties now account for a continuous 300 metre stretch of the prestigious west coast, or "Platinum Coast", of Barbados.

The hotel reopened in mid-December 2017 having been extensively renovated. The opening was later than anticipated, due in part to extreme weather events in Miami that delayed imports of materials. As a consequence, the results of Treasure Beach in its first year are likely to underperform the Group's expectations for 2017/18. However, the reviews for the property and feedback from Tour Operators have been very positive. Treasure Beach is a high quality product and the Group expects it to perform well in 2018/19.

The Group sees an opportunity to enhance the profitability of several of its hotels through a selective refurbishment programme, some of which were last refurbished up to seven years ago. Historically, the Group has been able to achieve significant uplift in the performance of refurbished assets. These refurbishments are expected to be funded from existing facilities.

The construction of Hodges Bay Resort & Spa (Hodges) in Antigua is approaching completion and the Group is excited to be adding this property to its portfolio in H2 2018 under management contract.

The Group continues to assess a range of further expansion opportunities, both on and off island. This includes both further management contracts, which offer compelling, less capital intensive expansion opportunities, as well as the selective acquisition of undervalued and underperforming assets. As announced in January, the Board was previously at an advanced stage of discussions with one particular opportunity. However, it subsequently decided not to proceed with a formal offer having concluded that the transaction would not be sufficiently value-enhancing for the Group. This reflects the Board's determination to maintain a rigorous and disciplined approach to assessing possible acquisition targets.

Dividend

The Board is pleased to report that an interim dividend of 1.33 pence per share has been declared. This reflects the Board's dividend policy, disclosed in January 2018, whereby the Company will be paying an interim dividend equal to one third of the full year dividend for the financial year ending 30 September 2018.

The dividend will be paid on 6 July 2018 to shareholders on the register on 1 June 2018, and the Company's ordinary shares will be marked ex-dividend on 31 May 2018.

Board and advisers

The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Liberum as the Company's Nominated Adviser with immediate effect. Liberum was appointed as Joint Corporate Broker on 18 May 2017 and will work alongside Zeus Capital Limited, which will act as Joint Corporate Broker to the Company.

The Board announces that David Adams has tendered his resignation as a Non-Executive Director and has stepped down from the Board. The Company has started the search for a successor and a further announcement will be made in due course. David has been an extremely valuable and effective NED, and the Board wishes him well in his future endeavours.

Current trading and outlook

Elegant Hotels has continued to trade in line with market expectations since the period end, and the strength of its bookings pipeline for the remainder of the financial year is robust. As a result, the Group remains comfortable with the FY18 outlook versus market expectations and confident in the Group's longer term prospects.

Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

for the 6 month period ended 31 March 2018 (unaudited)

(expressed in thousands of United States dollars)

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position

as at 31 March 2018 (unaudited)

(expressed in thousands of United States dollars)

Consolidated Cashflow Statement

for the 6 month period ended 31 March 2018 (unaudited)

(expressed in thousands of United States dollars)

Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

for the 6 month period ended 31 March 2018 (unaudited)(expressed in thousands of United States dollars) 

Notes to the interim financial statements

1. General information

Elegant Hotels Group plc ("Elegant Hotels" or the "Company") is a public limited company incorporated in the United Kingdom. The address of the registered office is 10 Norwich Street, London, EC4A 1BD. The principal activity of the Company and its subsidiaries (collectively the "Group") is the ownership and operation of hotels and a restaurant on the island of Barbados.

2. Basis of preparation

The interim financial information set out above does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of the Companies Act 2006. It has been prepared on a going concern basis in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European Union. Statutory financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2017 were approved by the Board of Directors on 8 January 2018 and delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors on those financial statements was unqualified.

The interim financial information for the six months ended 31 March 2018 has not been reviewed or audited. The interim financial report has been approved by the Board on 14 May 2018.

Going concern

The Group meets its day-to-day working capital requirements with the assistance of its bank facilities which were renewed on 26 May 2015. The Group's forecasts and projections take account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance and show that the Group should be able to operate within the level of its current facilities, meet future debt repayments and will continue to comply with its banking covenants for at least the foreseeable future. The Group therefore continues to adopt the going concern basis in preparing its consolidated interim financial statements.

Accounting estimates

The preparation of consolidated interim financial statements requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of accounting policies and the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income and expense. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

Unless otherwise stated, the financial information is presented in United States dollars. All amounts have been rounded to the nearest thousand, unless otherwise indicated.

3. Significant accounting policies

The accounting policies applied are consistent with those of the annual financial statements for the year ended 30 September 2017, as described in those annual financial statements.

4. Segmental analysis

Based on the information presented to and reviewed by the entity's Chief Operating Decision Maker, the entire operations of the Elegant Hotels Group are considered as one operating segment being the operation of hotels and a restaurant. All of the Group's material operational activities are currently located on the island of Barbados.

5. One-off costs

One-off costs incurred during the period principally relate to the redundancy costs and share based payments. Costs incurred in the prior interim period were principally related to the acquisition of Waves Hotel & Spa and share-based payments.

6. Earnings per share

Earnings per share (EPS) is the amount of profit after tax attributable to each share.

Basic EPS is calculated on the Group profit for the period attributable to equity shareholders of $8.8 million (H1 2017 - $9.2 million) divided by 88,815,789 (H1 2017 - 88,815,789) being the weighted average number of shares in issue during the year.

Diluted EPS takes into account the dilutive effect of all potentially issuable shares.

Adjusted EPS reflects the adjustment for one-off items in order to more accurately show the business performance of the Group in a consistent manner and reflect how the business is managed and measured on a day-to-day basis. Earnings used in adjusted basic and diluted EPS were $9.2m (H1 2017 - $9.8m).

The Company has 1,6941,511 potentially issuable shares all of which relate to share options issued to Directors and key management personnel of the Company. The dilutive number of issuable shares is 102,844 for the purposes of calculating the dilutive earnings per share.

7. Subsequent events

The Group did not have any subsequent events which require disclosure.

8. Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures