Register to get 3 free articles
Register to unlock the article and receive our free newsletter. Join 26,000 other hotel leaders and stay in the know.
Want unlimited access? View Plans
Already have an account? Sign in
Budget hotel chain Easyhotel has reported a 56% increase in revenues to £17.6m for the 12 months ending 30 September, despite experiencing what it called ‘dampened consumer confidence’.
The company also said its total system sales were up 28% to £47.8m, up from £37.3m the previous year. RevPar was also up 7.7% across its owned-properties while its franchised hotels reported a 1.6% drop in RevPar.
Easyhotel added that delivering “continued market outperformance in challenging trading conditions” has required an investment in both price and an increased use of online travel agents and against the more challenging trading environment means its board now anticipates group adjusted EBITDA to be close to £4.6m for the year.
During the second half of the period the group said it had successfully refurbished and reopened easyHotel Old Street (89 rooms) and let the self-contained 15,500 sq.ft. offices. easyHotel Milton Keynes (124 rooms) opened earlier than planned with both hotels “trading strongly”.
Although, the group added it has experienced planning delays for some of its hotels currently under development, it still expects to open 385 rooms across four hotels in the next financial year ending 30 September 2020. A further 701 rooms are expected to open in the following financial year.
Guy Parsons, chief executive of Easyhotel said: “The hotel markets have remained challenging in the second half of the financial year, particularly in the UK where we are seeing dampened consumer confidence.
“Whilst our owned hotels have continued to outperform the market, we have not been immune to the weaker regional hotel market and trading across our franchised portfolio has continued to be subdued.”
He added: “Whilst we don’t foresee any improvement to the trading environment in the medium term, we are focused on our strategic priorities and believe the current economic uncertainties will present attractive investment opportunities to continue to expand our development pipeline in our target destinations, underpinning the long-term growth of the brand.”
