PPHE Hotel Group 'confident' as trading nears pre-pandemic levels

PPHE Hotel Group has said it is “confident” in its financial performance as total room revenue and revpar neared 2019 levels last year due to rising demand for leisure and corporate travel.

It comes after the group released its trading update for the year ended 31 December 2022, which showed that revpar was £96.2, up by 168% from 2021 and 92.8% from 2019, reflecting the boost in occupancy to 60% compared to 30.7% the previous year.

Reported group room revenue for the year was £237.8m, up by 181.6% from 2021 and 94.9% from 2019.

The company also predicted that revenue will exceed £325m while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) will surpass £93m.

PPHE said: “The rate-led strategy and investments made in technology, automation and energy efficiency have helped to mitigate headwinds around rising labour and energy costs.”

The international hospitality real estate company also opened two premium hotels, including Grand Hotel Brioni Pula in Croatia, which was relaunched as a Radisson Collection Hotel, and the UK’s first Art’otel in London’s Battersea Power Station.

PPHE said it plans to open further sites in Zagreb in the first quarter of 2023 and in Rome and London's Hoxton in the first half of 2024.

It noted that London and Croatia saw a spike in activity during the summer season and the final quarter of 2022, marked by the return of corporate travel.

Boris Ivesha, president and chief executive officer of PPHE, said: “We are delighted with PPHE’s outperformance in 2022. Our rate-led strategy, prime locations and highly appealing brands have continued to support our strong recovery post-pandemic, with each quarter improving on the last.

“The group is now close to 2019 levels on a number of key metrics, including total room revenue and revpar, and with a significantly higher average room rate. While macroeconomic pressures remain heading into 2023, we are confident in the group's ability to continue to grow its revenues and EBITDA."

The group is due to publish its audited annual results on 2 March.