easyHotel plc (“easyHotel”) (“the Group”) the owner, developer and operator of super budget branded hotels, today announces its final results for the financial year ended 30 September 2017.
| Year ended 30th September | 2017 | 2016 | |
| Total Systems Sales | 29.67 | 21.32 | +39.2% |
| Revenue | 8.42 | 6.02 | +39.7% |
| Adjusted EBITDA | 2.30 | 1.55 | +48.3% |
| Profit before tax | 0.86 | 1.09 | -21.1% |
| Basic earnings per share (Pence) | 0.7 | 1.4 | -50% |
| Total Dividend per share (pence) | 0.33 | 0.33 |
- Adjusted EBITDA is up by 48.3% with margin increased to 27.3% (2016: 25.7%)
- Profit before tax of £0.86m (2016: £1.09m), reflecting increased costs associated with the expanding development pipeline, the £0.24m net book value negative impact of the closure of two floors at easyHotel Old Street and the absence of any capital gain this year from disposals (2016: £0.28m)
- Cash generated from operations increased to £2.22m (2016: £0.85m)
- Robust asset backed balance sheet with net assets of £70.2m (2016: £33.2m)
Business highlights
- Owned hotels significantly outperformed competitive set with like-for-like revenues up 13.7%
- Like-for-like franchise revenues up 8.6%, with particularly strong performance in Continental Europe
- Smooth implementation of booking engine and yield management systems underpinning positive trading momentum
- Five new hotels totalling 535 rooms opened over the course of the year and trading exceptionally strongly, with combined occupancy of over 85%
- Total network of 598 owned rooms and 1,750 franchised rooms
Significantly accelerated development pipeline
- Three new owned hotel sites in Leeds, Sheffield and Oxford secured over the year
- 404 owned rooms and 835 franchised rooms added to the development pipeline
- Total development pipeline of 921 owned rooms and 1,798 franchised rooms
Post year end events
- easyHotel Liverpool opened in November 2017 adding 78 rooms to the network
- 104-room Newcastle hotel secured in October 2017 opening as an easyHotel this month
- Acquisition of site in Cardiff for development of 120-room hotel, subject to planning permission
- Two new franchise hotels in the Netherlands will add a further 162 rooms to the development pipeline
Commenting, Guy Parsons, CEO of easyHotel plc, said:
“2017 has been a year of strong progress for the Group as we continue to develop the easyHotel brand as a market leader in “super-budget” sleep. Impressive like-for-like sales growth has been achieved across our existing network of hotels, underpinned by the smooth implementation of our new booking engine and yield management system across the entire easyHotel network.
We continue to accelerate our growth plans for the brand, targeting carefully selected locations to build our portfolio of owned and franchised hotels and applying strict investment criteria, ensuring we can continue to deliver a blended ROCE target of 15%. Five new hotels were opened over the course of the year, with easyHotel Liverpool opened since the year end. All have traded strongly since opening and we have been delighted with the positive customer reaction to our stylish new brand format.
The Group’s asset backed balance sheet remains strong but with our current development pipeline we are only able to finance one further owned hotel. We continue to see a good number of attractive potential development opportunities to further accelerate the Group’s growth. Consequently, the Board is considering its financing options, which may include new equity and debt, to fund these opportunities.
Whilst the wider macro-economic uncertainty continues to impact consumer confidence, we believe easyHotel is well positioned. The refinements that have been introduced to the business over the course of the last year are further strengthening our brand and ensuring that the easyHotel offering is one that can support delivery of the Board’s ambitious long-term strategy for growth.”