EasyHotel ‘outperforms challenging market'

Super budget brand EasyHotel has "outperformed a challenging market" after seeing revenue growth of more than 50%.

In the six months to 31 March 2019 revenue hit £7.26m, compared to £4.76m in the same period in 2018.

Adjusted EBITDA stood at £1.46m, up 48.2% from £980,000 in 2018. But, the company recorded a pre-tax loss of £120,000 compared to a profit of £90,000 the previous year. EasyHotel has said the temporary closure of its Old Street property and higher depreciation from new hotels hit profits.

Guy Parsons, CEO of easyHotel, said: "EasyHotel has delivered a market outperformance and good profitable growth in the first half of the year against a challenging market. The tactical decisions taken early in the period to drive market share through our OTA strategy has underpinned this, and we have continued to benefit from the impact of our ambitious opening programme."

He added: "The hotel market outlook remains uncertain, particularly in the UK where the ongoing Brexit negotiations continue to dampen consumer confidence. We are by no means immune, but the maturing profile of our hotels and our strong development pipeline will support continued growth and enhance our earnings profile. Combined with the careful control of our central costs, these efforts give the board confidence in meeting its expectations for the year ending 30 September 2019."

Revenue per available room (revpar) was up 10.1% in owned hotels during the period, but down 3.5% in franchised properties.

Three new hotels totalling 290 rooms opened during the period and the group has invested £14.2m in new developments. The group has said it has a strong opening pipeline set up in the UK and is focussed on replicating this across Europe.

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