Yahoo Finance easyHotel sees profits dive as it branches out
Profits at Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s easyHotel chain more than halved from £140,000 to £60,000 as the company stepped up openings of super-budget hotels.
Revenues for the group, which includes five owned hotels and 20 franchised properties, climbed 21.2% to £3.14 million.
Chief executive Guy Parsons said the results were very encouraging as customers continued to seek out the best value deals for rooms. Rooms at easyHotel sell from as little as £20 a night.
It opened a new hotel in Birmingham and two franchises in Brussels and Amsterdam, which have been 85% full, during the six months to the end of March. A 115-bedroom hotel in Manchester also opened last month.
The operator has a popular 92-bedroom hotel at Old Street but is in dispute with Islington council, which refused to give retrospective planning permission for an extension.
easyHotel said it would reach a decision on whether to sell it or carry on operating by October.
It has raised £38 million to open a string of hotels with franchises planned for Reading, Belfast and Nepal.
