LEI:213800OC94PF2D675H41
Hostelworld Group plc ("Hostelworld" or
the "Group")
Trading Update
Strong bookings growth, FY Adjusted
EBITDA guidance in line with expectations
Hostelworld is pleased to provide an update on
trading up to 30 June 2024 ("H1").
Key
highlights:
·
Net bookings of 3.7m (+9% YoY)
driven by record performances in Asia and Central
America
·
Net average booking value of €13.60
(-10% YoY) driven by a greater proportion of Asian
destination bookings and a slight increase in the proportion of
solo customers
·
Net revenue of €46.4m
(+1% YoY) reflecting the drivers above
·
Direct marketing as a percentage of
revenue1 totalled 45%, down 6%
from 51% in H1 '23, driving a net margin growth of
+23% YoY
·
Proportion of bookings from Social Members increased to 80%
(74% in Q4 '23)
·
Operating costs2 of €12.5m, (-2% YoY)
·
H1 '24 adjusted EBITDA €9.6m compared to
€5.1m in H1 '23, (+88% YoY), representing an increase in
adjusted EBITDA margin from 11% to 21%
·
Closing cash position of €5.0m and a
net debt position of €2.6m, AIB debt facility repaid in
full
Looking ahead, the Group is well positioned to
capitalise on market demand and reiterates a FY 2024 adjusted
EBITDA in line with market consensus3.
Gary
Morrison, Group Chief Executive Officer,
commented:
"I am very
pleased with our performance for the year to date, driven by strong
consumer demand for low cost destinations in Asia and Central
America. Over the balance of the year, we expect consumer demand
for low cost destinations to continue, resulting in revenue growth
lagging net bookings growth on a FY basis.
I am also
pleased that marketing expense as a proportion of revenue has
improved significantly YoY resulting in a 23% increase in net
margin YoY driven primarily by our Social Strategy, despite the
significant growth in lower cost destinations driving lower ABV's.
This net margin growth coupled with our continuing focus on cost
has delivered an 88% increase in adjusted EBITDA YoY, which has
enabled us to fully repay our residual debt facility with AIB, well
ahead of schedule.
Looking
ahead, I remain very confident in our growth strategy and that we
are well positioned, well financed and firmly on track to deliver
against our objectives outlined in our Capital Markets Day
presentation in November 2022."
The Group will report its half year results for
the six months ended 30 June 2024 on 08 August 2024.
MAR
information
This announcement contains inside information
for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of the Market Abuse
Regulation (EU 596/2014) ("MAR") which is part of UK law by virtue
of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. For the purposes of
MAR and Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU)
2016/1055, this announcement is being made on behalf of the Company
by Caroline Sherry, Chief Financial Officer.
1. Generated
revenue is gross revenue less cancellations and excludes impact of
deferred revenue.
2. Operating
costs exclude paid marketing costs, credit card fees, exceptional
costs and share option charges.
3. Company
compiled market consensus FY 2024 adjusted EBITDA is €21.4M as of
09 July 2024.
For further information please
contact:
Hostelworld
Group plc
Corporate@hostelworld.com
Gary Morrison, Chief Executive
Officer
Caroline Sherry, Chief Financial
Officer
David Brady, Head of Commercial
Finance
Powerscourt
hostelworld@powerscourt-group.com
Eavan Gannon / Nick
Dibden
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7250 1446
About Hostelworld
Group
Hostelworld Group PLC is a ground-breaking
social network powered Online Travel Agent ("OTA") focused on the
hostelling category, with a clear mission to help travellers find
people to hang out with. Our mission statement is founded on the
insight that most travellers go hostelling to meet other people,
which we facilitate through a series of social features on our
platform that connect our travellers in hostels and cities based on
their booking data. The strategy has been extraordinarily
successful, generating significant word of mouth recommendations
from our customers and strong endorsements from our hostel
partners.
Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Ireland,
Hostelworld is a well-known trusted brand with almost 230
employees, hostel partners in over 180 countries, and a
long-standing commitment to building a better world. To that end,
our focus over the last few years has been on improving the
sustainability of the hostelling industry. In particular, over the
last two years we have commissioned independent research to
validate the category's sustainability credentials, and recently
introduced a hostel specific sustainability framework which
encourages our hostel partners to move to even more sustainable
operations and also provides the data points for our customers to
make more informed decisions about where they stay. In addition,
our customers are now able to offset their trip's carbon emissions
should they wish to do so, and we have maintained our 'Funding
Climate Action' label awarded by South Pole.
Disclaimer
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements relate to the future prospects, developments and
business strategies of Hostelworld. Forward-looking statements are
identified by the use of such terms as "believe", "could",
"envisage", "estimate", "potential", "intend", "may", "plan",
"will" or variations or similar expressions, or the negative
thereof. Any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. If
one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if
underlying assumptions prove incorrect, Hostelworld's actual
results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or
projected. Any forward-looking statements speak only as at the date
of this announcement. Except as required by law, Hostelworld
undertakes no obligation to publicly release any update or
revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement to reflect any change in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statements are based after the time
they are made.