10th Sep 2013 10:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Snoozebox Holdings PLC, the portable accommodation company, Tuesday said losses widened further in the first half of the year.
Snoozebox's former chief executive officer and chief financial officer both stepped down in April after the company revealed a drop in revenues and a loss of GBP4.4 million for the financial year ended December 31.
Under new management, Snoozebox reported a widened pretax loss of GBP5.1 million in the first six months of the year, compared with a loss of GBP1.7 million a year earlier. It said that the overhaul of its management structure and reduction in headcount led to GBP0.4 million in exceptional costs during the period.
"Although the company had initial success in establishing its brand during the course of last year, it rapidly became apparent that, overall, the events scheduled for this year would not deliver the profitability hitherto predicted and that additional funding would be required," said Chairman David Morrison in a statement.
Snoozebox said that it managed to raise a total of GBP9.5 million in June, to help provide both short-term working capital and some funding for growth and product development.
The company said that its now intends to consolidate its position in the UK events market and is looking to broaden its product and service range to other potential growth areas, including construction, energy, healthcare and the provision of temporary accommodation for local authorities.
It reported revenue growth across all its divisions in the first half of the year, which includes motorsport, leisure, entertainment and event support services. Revenues of GBP4.3 million represented an increase of 126% when compared with the GBP1.9 million in revenues reported a year earlier, largely due to the large-scale accommodation solution for the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland, for which it supplied sleeping accommodation, detention cells and other services.
The group said that it opened two new hotels in the period, including an 80-bedroom year-round hotel at Silverstone, which improved revenue growth in its motorsport sector, and a 58 bedroom hotel at Merlin Entertainments Group's Thorpe Park theme park, which it said delivered high guest experience scores.
Snoozebox said that occupancy levels have improved, and it reported an 11% increase in its room stock, to 578 rooms in the first half.
Shares were down 2.6% or 0.50 pence Tuesday morning, trading at 19.00 pence per share.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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