EasyHotel plans to become top UK ‘super budget’ hotel chain
EasyHotel has revealed plans to establish itself as the leading ‘super budget’ hotel chain in Europe after announcing a 38% rise in pre-tax profit to £790,000.
It also announced it will pay its first dividend of 33p per share.
The chain, which has 21 hotels in 14 cities in eight countries, saw sales rise 15% to £19.95 million in the year to September 2015.
It increased the number of owned hotel rooms to 390 with the opening of a 103-room property in Croydon and acquired sites in Manchester and Liverpool, where it is aiming to open new hotels in the 2016/17 financial year.
Its Benelux franchisee secured planning consent and financing for an easyHotel in Brussels, which is due to open by early 2017.
The chain also entered into a partnership with MAN Investments in the Middle East, where it is planning to develop more than 1,600 rooms by the end of 2020.
Commenting on the financial results, CEO Guy Parsons said: "easyHotel continued to perform in line with Board expectations in 2015, demonstrating the strength of the business model, the brand and demand for simple comfort at super budget prices in great locations.
"Since my appointment in August, essential and important operational improvements have been introduced to enhance the efficiency and scalability of our business, and to enable us to identify and develop new sites more quickly, as well as improve our RevPAR performance.
"The scale of opportunity we have in the UK and Europe is larger than was previously thought. Through a mix of owned and franchised hotels and an accelerated pace of openings, I believe that we have the opportunity to establish ourselves as the leading branded super budget hotel chain and create significant value for shareholders and stakeholders."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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