Safestay PLC Trading Statement (6478B)
February 03 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMSSTY
RNS Number : 6478B
Safestay PLC
03 February 2020
3 February 2020
Safestay plc
("Safestay", the "Company" or the "Group")
FY19 Trading Statement
Safestay (AIM: SSTY), the owner and operator of an international
brand of contemporary hostels, is pleased to announce a successful
trading period for the 12 months to 31 December 2019, recording
significant increases in revenues, occupancy and EBITDA.
FY19 Highlights
-- 25% growth in total revenues to GBP18.3 million (2018:
GBP14.6 million) with like for like revenues up 7%
-- 11% increase in adjusted EBITDA* to GBP3.8 million (2018: GBP3.4 million)
-- 77.3% occupancy achieved over the period, up from 75.6%, reflecting good demand
-- 5% increase in average bed rate to GBP21.3 (2018: GBP20.3)
-- 43% growth in F&B revenues now representing 14% of total revenues
-- Completed 6 transactions, adding 8 hostels increasing the
portfolio to 21 sites and over 5,100 beds
-- Europe now represents 49% of sales (2018: 43%)
* adjusted EBITDA excludes one-off, non-recurring expenditure
which would otherwise distort the metric for comparison
purposes
Larry Lipman, Chairman of Safestay, said, "In 2019 we near
doubled the size of the Safestay network. In doing so, the Safestay
brand has become Europe's leading premium hostel network totalling
21 sites, all in sought-after central locations in the UK and
Europe's best known cities. The brand is now well established and
positioned to sell over a million bed nights in 2020 in unique
hostels ranging from Edinburgh to Athens.
Trading in 2019 was good, all key indicators were strongly
positive, in particular the organic growth performance, and
critically we have yet to really benefit from the recent
acquisitions agreed towards the end of the year. Safestay is
therefore well placed to grow substantially in 2020 and take
advantage of the increasing popularity of the modern hostel
sector."
Trading performance
The business performed well in 2019, achieving 25% growth in
sales. Demand has been consistent across the business with
occupancy now averaging 77.3%, helped by a 50% increase in direct
web bookings driven by the Company's booking engine and website
which were refreshed in early 2019.
F&B, previously identified as a growth opportunity, was up
43% in 2019 and supported by the refurbishment of 3 restaurants in
Barcelona, Elephant & Castle and Edinburgh. These enhancements
were part of the GBP1.8 million refurbishment and renovations
programme across 2019 and 2020. Re-investment is core to
maintaining the premium status of Safestay amongst the hostel
market and the ongoing high levels of guest satisfaction.
The integration of the new hostels acquired in 2019 is
proceeding well with the investment made over the last three years
in centralised IT and booking systems and the integration
experience the Group has gained, ensuring that the incoming sites
can be integrated efficiently, and immediately benefit from the
Group's economies of scale.
In January 2020, a new 5 year GBP23 million loan facility was
agreed with HSBC. The new facility is on the same terms and
replaces the GBP18 million 5 year loan facility agreed in 2017 also
with HSBC and with an interest rate of 2.45% + LIBOR, providing the
Company with additional headroom to support its commercial
objectives.
Further to the announcement made on 18 December 2019, the
acquisition of the Bratislava and Warsaw Hostels from Dreamgroup
Management E.C.P. Ltd for a total consideration of EUR2.7 million
has been completed. The completion of the acquisition of the third
hostel of the Dream portfolio, which is located in Prague, will
take place in the next weeks.
Outlook
The financial performance and the investment made in 2019 has
created real momentum going into 2020. While still very early in
the year, performance in the first month of 2020 and forward
bookings for Q1 are very encouraging, a positive signal for the
coming year, which will also benefit from the acquisitions made
last year.
Current Network
Region Location Beds Leasehold/Freehold
UK Edinburgh 618 Finance lease
Glasgow* 200 Freehold
London "Kensington 345 Finance lease
Holland Park"
London "Elephant and 491 Finance lease
Castle"
York 151 Freehold
======================== ====== ===================
Europe Athens 132 Leasehold
Barcelona "Passeig 380 Leasehold
de Gràcia"
Barcelona "Gothic 132 Leasehold
Quarter"
Barcelona "Sea" 96 Leasehold
Berlin* 168 Leasehold
Bratislava 124 Leasehold
Brussels* 196 Leasehold
Lisbon 150 Leasehold
Madrid 228 Leasehold
Pisa 171 Freehold
Prague "Charles Bridge" 150 Leasehold
Vienna* 137 Leasehold
Warsaw 158 Leasehold
======================== ====== ===================
Total Operating 18 4,027
======================== ====== ===================
Prague "Museum" (Q1 204 Leasehold
2020)
Paris (2020) 246 Leasehold
Venice (2022) 660 Freehold (JV)
======================== ====== ===================
Total under development 3 1,110
======================== ====== ===================
Total Network 21 5,137
======================== ====== ===================
*bed stock after completion of the conversion / renovation in
Vienna, Brussels, Glasgow and Berlin, all due to complete in Q1
2020
Enquiries
Safestay plc +44 (0) 20 8815 1600
Larry Lipman
Liberum Capital Limited
(Nominated Adviser and Broker) +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
Andrew Godber/Edward Thomas/Laura Hamilton
Novella +44 (0) 20 3151 7008
Tim Robertson
Fergus Young
For more information visit our:
Website www.safestay.com
Vox Markets page
https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/company/SSTY/news/
Instagram page www.instagram.com/safestayhostels/
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
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of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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