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10 Oct 2017 07:00
10 October 2017
easyHotel plc
easyHotel plc
("easyHotel", the "Group" or the "Company")
Year End Trading Update
The Board of easyHotel plc, the owner, developer and operator of "super budget" hotels, today issues the following trading update for the financial year ended 30 September 2017 (the "period").
Trading Overview
The good progress achieved in the first six months of the financial year continued through H2 with trading for the full year a little ahead of the Board's expectations:
· | Total system sales1 up 39% to £29.7m (30 September 2016: £21.3m) |
· | Like-for-like revenue for owned hotels increased by 13.7% and for franchised hotels by 8.6% |
· | Owned hotels significantly outperforming competitor set (source: STR Global) |
During the period the Group benefitted from the smooth implementation of its new booking engine and yield management system across the entire network which has supported its positive trading momentum and enabled the business to scale efficiently as it continues to accelerate its growth plans.
New Hotel Openings
Five new hotels totalling 535 rooms were opened during the financial year - Birmingham and Manchester owned hotels and Brussels, Amsterdam Arena and Amsterdam Zaandam franchised hotels. All five hotels have been developed in the Group's new brand format and have traded exceptionally strongly since opening. All of them are expected to reach maturity ahead of budget and the Group now plans to refurbish its Old Street, Glasgow and Croydon hotels of which Glasgow and Croydon will be completed during Winter 2017/2018 to reflect the new product look and feel.
Owned Hotel Development Pipeline
· | The new 78 bedroom easyHotel Liverpool is expected to open in November 2017. |
· | New hotel projects are currently under construction in Ipswich (89 rooms), Barcelona (204 rooms), Leeds (93 rooms) and Sheffield (131 rooms). All four hotels are anticipated to open during 2018. |
· | On 21 June 2017, the Group signed a 25-year lease for the development of a new, purpose-built easyHotel in Oxford (180 rooms). The hotel is anticipated to open in the second half of the 2019 calendar year. |
· | The Group continues to adopt strict investment criteria for owned hotel development that will continue to deliver a Group ROCE of 15%. |
· | Following the successful £38m (gross) equity placing in October 2016, and the £12m refinancing of an existing bank facility, the Group's balance sheet remains strong with capacity to finance up to three additional new projects from the Group's identified owned hotel development pipeline. |
· | The Group has a further 2,569 owned rooms under negotiation of which 1,223 have Board approval. |
Franchised Hotel Development Pipeline
· | New franchised hotel projects are currently under construction in Lisbon (101 rooms), Bernkastel-Kues (100 rooms), Reading (54 rooms), Belfast (81 rooms) and Dubai (300 rooms) and are anticipated to open over the course of 2018. Our franchisee in Istanbul continues to look for a suitable going concern property. |
· | New master development agreements were signed over the course of the period to develop the easyHotel brand in Iran and Sri Lanka. |
· | We have 2,263 franchise rooms under negotiation. |
Old Street, London
On 1 August 2017, the Board announced that, having taken specialist advice, it believes that restoring and extending the office use on the upper floors of the Group's freehold building at Old Street, London should maximise value from the property. The Group is retaining a smaller 92-bedroom hotel at the property and is applying for planning permission to add additional floors to the building, for use as office accommodation.
The Group further intends to refurbish the retained 92-bedroom hotel, to complement the 'new look' format hotels it has recently opened in Birmingham and Manchester. This is anticipated to improve Revpar in the hotel, and combined with the additional office space, is expected to optimise shareholder value from the site.
Guy Parsons, Chief Executive Officer of easyHotel plc said:
"It has been a year of accelerated growth for the Group, endorsing our strategy of offering comfortable, affordable accommodation in key tourist and business locations in the UK and internationally.
"The strong like-for-like performance of both our owned and franchised hotels and their continued outperformance against the market is very encouraging. We are particularly pleased by the performance of our newly opened hotels, designed in our stylish new brand format, which are proving popular with our customers and trading ahead of expectations.
"Our network, including pipeline hotels, has increased by more than 1,100 rooms, or 32%, during the financial year, with 2,270 rooms now open (25 hotels), and a committed pipeline of 2,400 rooms. The Board is confident that we are very well positioned to continue expanding into the near future."
The Group will announce its Final Results for the year ended 30 September 2017 on 6 December 2017.
Enquiries:
easyHotel plc |
|
Guy Parsons, Chief Executive Officer | www.easyhotel.com |
Marc Vieilledent, Chief Financial Officer
| http://ir.easyhotel.com |
Investec (Nominated Adviser and Broker) | +44 (0) 20 7597 5970 |
David Anderson
|
|
Houston PR (Financial PR) | +44 (0) 20 3701 7660 |
Kate Hoare |
|
Notes to Editors:
www.easyhotel.com http://ir.easyhotel.com
easyHotel is the owner, developer, operator and franchisor of branded hotels. Its strategy is to target the "super budget" segment of the hotel industry by marketing "clean, comfortable and safe" hotel rooms to its customers.
Operating hotels
easyHotel's five owned hotels currently comprise 520 rooms, and it has a further 20 franchised hotels with 1,750 rooms.
Owned hotels:
Old Street (London), Glasgow, Croydon, Birmingham, Manchester.
Franchise locations:
Belgium (Brussels), Bulgaria (Sofia), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt), Hungary (Budapest), The Netherlands (Amsterdam: City, Arena & Zaandam, Rotterdam, The Hague), Switzerland (Basel, Zurich), UAE (Dubai), United Kingdom (Edinburgh, London Heathrow, Central London, Luton).
Hotel development pipeline
The Company's committed development pipeline of owned and franchised hotels currently consists of:
Owned hotels:
United Kingdom (Liverpool, Ipswich, Sheffield, Leeds), Spain (Barcelona) Subject to planning consent: United Kingdom (Oxford - lease).
Franchise hotels:
UAE (Dubai), Germany (Bernkastel-Kues), Portugal (Lisbon), Turkey (Istanbul), UK (Belfast, Reading), Iran, Sri Lanka. easyHotel has recently decided to terminate the Nepal franchise agreement.
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