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Travelodge has announced it is planning to open 100 new hotels in the next five years after seeing its turnaround plan lead to an 8.8% rise in revenues.
For the year ending 31 December, Travelodge delivered total revenues of £693.3m, up from £637.1m the previous year. It also reported adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased £9.6m to £122m.
The company also revealed that RevPAR was up 3.2% to £41.69 (2017: £40.40), average room rate was maintained at £53.09 (2017: £53.13) and occupancy was up 2.5pts to 78.5%. During the period Travelodge also opened an additional 17 hotels.
However, commenting on its outlook, the company said the UK economic situation remaining “uncertain” and “well documented cost pressures facing the wider sector” led it to maintain a cautious short term outlook.
Peter Gowers, Travelodge chief executive, said its “strategic focus on location, price and quality” has enabled the group to deliver a “set of excellent results”, attributed to extending its network of hotels, remaining focused on delivering “attractive prices” and increasing its quality.
He said: “Once again we outperformed our competitive segment and delivered another year of strong growth, with EBITDA up £9.6m to £122m. These are uncertain times and we are not immune from the short term challenges, but beyond, we remain confident that there are more opportunities ahead.
“These results highlight Travelodge’s transformation over the last five years. Over that period, Travelodge’s sales are up by more than £250m, we’ve outperformed our competitive segment for five years in a row, opened more than 60 new hotels and more than trebled our profitability.”
He added: “We’ve invested in better quality and choice for our guests, while staying true to our budget roots. People are noticing the difference, culminating in our being recognised, for the first time, as one of the world’s top 10 global hotel chains by TripAdvisor. The long term growth opportunities for the budget sector remain strong and we expect to open 100 new hotels over the next five years, creating approximately 3,000 jobs.”
