18th Apr 2018 13:06
LONDON (Alliance News) - Hostel firm Safestay PLC on Wednesday reported a wider loss in 2017 but a solid increase in revenue on the back of acquisitions made during the year.
Safestay's pretax loss for 2017 widened to GBP862,000 from the GBP468,000 it posted a year earlier. Administrative expenses increased to GBP7.5 million from GBP5.2 million and other exceptional costs rose to GBP495,000 from GBP152,000.
This offset revenue growth of 43% to GBP10.5 million. UK revenue, Safestay said, rose 15% to GBP8.5 million, showing a "strong" underlying performance.
Like-for-like occupancy, a key metric, improved to 73% from 65%, with room revenue rising to GBP9.0 million from GBP6.1 million. On a like-for-like basis, UK food & beverage revenue increased 8% to GBP1.3 million.
The number of beds sold rose to 444,480 from 297,276, and the company "successfully" integrated five new properties in European destinations.
Safestay said the start of 2018 has met expectations, and it will continue to look into entering new markets around the world through acquisitions.
Chairman Larry Lipman said: "Arguably this has been the most successful year for the company to date, beginning with the refinancing of the company which exemplified the embedded value in the business and providing the capital to support the threefold expansion of the portfolio.
"This activity came alongside a very strong trading performance from the group with like for like revenues up 15% driven by a particularly strong performance from our uniquely located and grade 1 listed Holland Park Hostel."
Shares were down 1.5% on Wednesday at a price of 45.33 pence each.
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