EZH.L Regulatory News (EZH)

7 October 2015

easyHotel plc

Year End Trading Update and easyHotel Brussels development

easyHotel plc ("easyHotel" or the "Company") (AIM:EZH), the owner, developer, operator and franchisor of "super budget" branded hotels, today announces a trading update for the financial year ended 30 September 2015.

Trading for the year ended 30 September 2015 was in line with the Board's expectations. 

The Group has benefited from full year contributions from Glasgow, the expanded capacity at Old Street in London and the opening of Croydon. This, together with the openings of franchisee hotels in Frankfurt and Prague, has resulted in revenue for the year ended 30 September 2015 being materially ahead of the prior year. The Board expects to report underlying trading EBITDA (before certain one-off items) of approximately £1.4 - £1.5 million for the year. Reported EBITDA is likely to be impacted by a number of one-off items, in particular, costs related to the previously announced management changes as well as income related to the termination of the South African franchise.

The Board is pleased with the recent acquisitions of properties in Liverpool and Manchester and after reviewing the projects it now anticipates the likely opening of both hotels will be in late 2016, subject to receiving planning permission.

The Group's balance sheet remains robust with net cash as at 30 September 2015 of approximately £22 million, including the security deposit referred to below.

With respect to the financing of the development of a 107-room easyHotel in Brussels the project will be either purchased by the Group's Benelux franchisee, with the subsequent release of the Group's €3.3 million security deposit, or easyHotel will complete the development as a directly owned and managed hotel, for a total investment cost of approximately €9.4 million by the end of October 2015. Whether the project is a franchised or owned hotel, this new hotel, which is located within five minutes' walk of the central Grand Place, is expected to be opened by early 2017. It will be a great addition to easyHotel network and will be the first easyHotel in Belgium.

Guy Parsons, Chief Executive, said:

"In the two months I have been with the Group I am pleased with its progress and direction of travel. Whilst the strategy is sound, I am currently having a hard look at how we can accelerate the growth of both the owned and franchised hotels as well as how we can improve the Group's core operational disciplines. A further update will be provided with our results in December."

The Company expects to report its audited results for the year ended 30 September 2015 on Wednesday 9 December 2015.

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

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. easyHotel currently has three owned hotels comprising 390 rooms, and a further 18 franchised hotels with 1,490 rooms.

Owned hotels:  Old Street (London), Glasgow, Croydon

Franchise locations: Bulgaria (Sofia), Czech Republic (Prague), Germany (Berlin, Frankfurt), Hungary (Budapest), The Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague), Switzerland (Basel, Zurich), UAE (Dubai), UK (Edinburgh, London)

Cautionary statement

This announcement contains unaudited information based on management accounts and forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts and undue reliance should not be placed on any such statements because they speak only as at the date of this announcement and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause actual results, and easyHotel's plans and objectives, to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. easyHotel undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement contained within this announcement, regardless of whether those statements are affected as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save as required by law and regulations.