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easyHotel swung to a modest loss for the year as the temporary closure of Old Street and higher depreciation from new hotels dented a rise in sales. The company also said the outlook on the hotel market remained 'uncertain.'
For the 12 months to the end of March, the company reported a loss before tax of £0.12m, compared with a profit of £0.09m a year earlier. But total system sales rose 25.3% and total group revenue grew by 52.6% to £7.26m.
The bulk of the uptick in revenue was driven by the company's owned hotel segment, which generated revenue growth of 63.3% to £6.46m in the wake of the contribution from new hotel openings last year.
Owned hotel revenue per available room (RevPAR) was up 10.1%, outperforming the market by 9.7%. But franchise like-for-like RevPAR was down 3.5%, pressured by the hotels in the Benelux region.
Adjusted earnings (EBITDA) grew 48.2%, reflecting 'strength of proposition and continued market outperformance,' the company said.
The company opened three new hotels totalling 290 rooms, with five new hotels totalling 517 rooms due to open during the second half and a further nine new owned hotels planned to open in next 24 months.
'easyHotel has delivered a market outperformance and good profitable growth in the first half of the year against a challenging market,' said Guy Parsons, CEO of easyHotel.
'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.'
'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.'