REG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Preliminary results for the year ended 31 Dec 2024
20/03/2025 07:00
For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250320:nRST3619Ba&default-theme=true
RNS Number : 3619B Hostelworld Group PLC 20 March 2025
LEI:213800OC94PF2D675H41
Hostelworld Group plc ("Hostelworld" or the "Group" or the "Company")
Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2024
Adjusted EBITDA delivery in line with consensus and return to net cash
20 March 2025: Hostelworld, a leading global OTA focused on the hostel market,
is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December
2024.
Significant developments
· Growth in social membership and engagement: +2m social members at
FY, with message volume growth significantly outpacing booking growth in H2
· 80% of bookings made by social members (+13% pts), fuelling App
booking growth of +16% YoY
· Market coverage growth to 77% (+3% pts), driven by platform,
resourcing and acquisition process improvements
· Over 2,100 hostels obtained a "Staircase to Sustainability"
certification, with another 500 in the pipeline
· Detailed growth strategy and capital allocation update will be
provided at a Capital Markets Day on 29 April 2025
Financial highlights
· Full year net bookings totalled 6.9m, an increase of 6% year on
year (2023: 6.5m), record performances in Asia and Central America
· Net revenue for the period was €92.0m, a decrease of 1% year on
year (2023: €93.3m)
· Net ABV of €13.21, a decrease of 8% year on year (2023:
€14.36), driven by shift in consumer demand towards lower cost destinations
· Direct marketing as a percentage of revenue(1) amounted to 46%
(2023: 50%), 7% increase in net margin to €46.6m (2023: €43.7m)
· Operating costs(2) of €24.8m, a decrease of €0.5m year on year,
stable as a % of revenue(1), 27% (2023: 27%).
· Adjusted EBITDA of €21.8m, an increase of 19% year on year (2023:
€18.4m)
· Profit after tax of €9.1m, an increase of 78% year on year (2023:
€5.1m)
· Adjusted EPS 13.97 cent, an increase of 41% year on year (2023:
9.91 cent)
· Return to a net cash position, all bank debt repaid in full, two years
ahead of schedule
Balance sheet and cash flow
· Total cash as at 31 December 2024 of €8.2m (2023: €7.5m) and
net cash of €2.0m (2023: €12.3m net debt)
· Adjusted free cashflow of €14.4m (2023: €13.9m), 66% cash
conversion (2023: 75% cash conversion)
(1) Gross revenue less cancellations
(2) Operating costs exclude paid marketing costs and credit card fees, and
below Adjusted EBITDA items relating to exceptional items, depreciation,
amortisation and share option charges
Gary Morrison, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"In a year marked by lower-than-expected revenue growth, driven by our
customers' preference for lower-cost destinations, our social strategy
continued to reduce marketing expenses, driving a net margin growth of 7%
year-over-year. Combined with disciplined cost control, this resulted in a 19%
increase in adjusted EBITDA to €21.8 million. The increase in adjusted
EBITDA, coupled with robust cash conversion, enabled early debt repayment and
return to a net cash position in the third quarter.
We achieved 6% net booking growth, primarily driven by UK and European
travellers opting for lower-cost destinations in Asia. This growth was
partially offset by weaker demand for higher-cost European destinations.
Consequently, the average net booking value decreased by 8% year-on-year,
impacting revenue growth. Pleasingly, booking values returned to growth in the
last quarter of 2024, with encouraging trends continuing into the first
quarter of 2025 supported by bed price inflation in Asia. I am also proud to
report that we continue to advance our ESG agenda by taking responsibility for
our carbon emissions and making a climate investment to offset their impact,
for which we received a 'Taking Climate Action' silver label from South Pole.
We are also collaborating with our hostel partners to highlight the inherent
sustainability of hostel accommodation.
Outlook
"Looking ahead, we are confident that our distinctive social strategy will
continue to be a key differentiator in the online travel market. We will
continue to invest in our technology and expand our social features to enhance
the customer experience and drive future growth. A detailed growth strategy
and capital allocation update will be provided on the 29 April at our Capital
Markets Day."
Analyst Presentation
A presentation will be made to analysts today at 9.00am, a copy of which will
be available on our Group website: http://www.hostelworldgroup.com. If you
would like to dial into the presentation, please contact Sodali on the contact
details provided below, or join directly via webcast link provided below.
Webcast Link
https://brrmedia.news/HSW_PR24 (https://brrmedia.news/HSW_PR24)
For further information please contact:
Hostelworld Group plc Corporate@hostelworld.com (mailto:Corporate@hostelworld.com)
Gary Morrison, Chief Executive Officer
Caroline Sherry, Chief Financial Officer
David Brady, Head of Commercial Finance
Sodali & Co hostelworld@sodali.com (mailto:hostelworld@sodali.com)
Eavan Gannon +44 (0) 20 7250 1446
About Hostelworld
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 'Taking 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.
Chairman's Statement: Ulrik Bengtsson
"This year saw even more customers engage with our innovative social network,
with a record two million social members and 80% of all 2024 bookings made by
social members. To truly understand the impact, I engaged directly with our
platform's community, witnessing first-hand how our social strategy drives
connection. As we move forward, the Board is confident that our unique social
strategy will continue to be a central driver of our growth."
I was privileged to join the Hostelworld Board as a Non-Executive Director,
Chair Designate and member of the Nomination Committee and Remuneration
Committee on 02 May 2024, and to subsequently succeed Michael Cawley as
Chairman of the Board and Chair of the Nomination Committee on 10 October
2024. On behalf of the Board, I wish to pay tribute to Michael for his
commitment and dedication to the success of the Group throughout his years of
service.
Overview
I must admit that prior to joining Hostelworld, I had never stayed at a
hostel. This summer, I embarked on a research trip to deepen my experience of
hostelling, travelling by car from the UK to Sweden and staying exclusively in
hostels. It was a valuable and insightful experience. I witnessed first-hand
the power of our app's social features to forge genuine connections among
travellers. In every hostel, I saw and experienced the unique sense of
community and togetherness that hostelling cultivates. These observations
validated the strategic importance of our social features - features which
truly connect travellers to enrich travel experiences in a way no other app
does. The insights gained this summer have reinforced my belief that these
social features, with a strong roadmap of innovative enhancements provide a
solid foundation that is the bedrock for future growth. Our social strategy
will evolve but remains core to our long-term success. Consequently, the Board
remains confident in the strength of our business model and the enduring
appeal of the hostelling experience for our customers.
Enhancing Social Connectivity and Engagement
Our social strategy, launched in 2022, has proven to be a key differentiator
for Hostelworld, driving customer engagement and contributing to a lower cost
of customer acquisition and increased customer lifetime value. During 2024 we
remained focused on expanding our active customer base and enhancing
engagement with our customers through our social network, developing and
launching product features which improved their travel experiences. We
continued to enrich the social core of our platform by expanding profile
information to enable customers to create more personalised experiences and
introducing a hangout status and enhanced chat functionality to improve
interaction quality and quantity. Building on this momentum, we continue to
augment and refine our platform's social features to offer more
personalisation and opportunities for genuine community and connection.
As we look to the future, we are fully committed to growing the company. Our
strategy is focused on connecting travellers, driving sustainable growth, and
creating long-term value for our shareholders. Within this framework, the
Board is confident there are many avenues for growth available to us;
expanding our social features, monetising our traffic and expanding our
inventory to meet our customer needs. We will provide a detailed update on our
strategy as part of our Capital Markets Day being held on 29 April 2025.
Our People
Since joining the Board, I have had the opportunity to engage with the
executive team on multiple occasions throughout the year and I am extremely
impressed with the quality and dedication that I saw. Central to Hostelworld's
continued success is the unwavering dedication, hard work, and commitment of
our people. We are fortunate to attract and retain talented and committed
employees from a diversity of backgrounds in all areas of the business.
In 2024, Hostelworld celebrated its 25(th) anniversary and this milestone
occasion was marked by bringing the Company together in Dublin to celebrate 25
years of connecting travellers and launch a new Culture Code that supports the
vibrant culture at Hostelworld. The Culture Code, developed collaboratively
across the organisation, was created to define, and reflect the shared beliefs
and values of the Hostelworld team that promotes equality and dignity at work
and ensures everyone feels they belong.
Cash Generation and Capital Allocation
Our principal objective is to deliver growth and long-term sustainable value
for our shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet. The cash
generative nature of the business allowed for the repayment, in June 2024, of
the remaining bank borrowings, in full and two-years ahead of schedule. At the
end of 2024, the business had returned to a net cash position of €2.0m
(2023: net debt €12.3m). We continue to hold an interest-free warehoused
debt facility with the Irish Revenue Commissioners with whom we have agreed a
repayment plan. We made an initial instalment in May 2024 of 15% of the
outstanding facility and will make monthly payments of the remaining balance
over a three-year period until April 2027.
We are now focused on ensuring our capital is efficiently spent to grow the
company. Having said that the Board is aware of the importance of also
returning capital to shareholders and assessing capital allocation was again a
key issue considered by the Board during the second half of 2024. Following
detailed consideration of the issue, which involved assessing the differing
views of shareholders whom I met following my appointment as Chairman in
October 2024, the Board decided that the payment of dividends would not
currently be in the best interests of the business. Accordingly, the Company
will not be paying a dividend in respect to the 2024 financial year. A
thorough overview of capital allocation plans will be provided at our Capital
Markets Day on 29 April 2025.
Sustainability
While our strategy obviously includes running a profitable growing business
that our people enjoy working for, within that we recognise and prioritise the
importance of minimising our environmental impact and promoting responsible
travel.
Accompanying targets previously set for Scope 1 and 2 emissions that we
control, in 2024 we went further, by setting a target to reduce our Scope 3
emissions arising through our value chain. We were awarded the 'Taking Climate
Action' silver label by South Pole, a leading climate solutions partner, for
the fourth consecutive year in recognition of our commitment to reducing and
controlling our emissions.
Our bespoke 'Staircase to Sustainability' framework, which helps hostels
assess and communicate their sustainability credentials to customers in a
transparent way, has grown significantly in its first year with over 2,100
properties obtaining the GSTC accreditation. These accredited hostels have
seen an increase in customer demand, with customers preferring to choose the
more sustainable accommodation option. We also marketed and published a new
series of hostel sustainability content stories in 2024 to highlight some of
the incredible work being completed by our hostel partners in this vital area.
We made sustainability a central theme at our annual 'HOSCARs' awards event
for hostel partners, celebrating the best-in-class hostels who had made
significant progress on their sustainability journeys.
Board Changes
Paul Duffy joined the Board as Non-Executive Director and member of the Audit
Committee, Nomination Committee and member and Chair of the Remuneration
Committee on 02 May 2024. Paul is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with
extensive knowledge of the consumer industry and brings significant strategic
and brand experience, having served previously as Chairman and CEO of Pernod
Ricard North America. Paul is currently a Non-Executive Director and Audit
Committee Chair, Remuneration Committee member and Development Committee
member of Glanbia, plc. Carl G. Shepherd (Senior Independent Director) stepped
down as Chair of the Remuneration Committee on the same date and continues as
a member of the Remuneration Committee. I look forward to Paul making a
significant contribution to the Board in the years ahead.
Conclusion
While the Board is proud of our achievements, we remain focused on the future,
convinced of the important role played by Hostelworld in the online travel
industry and the Group's ability to grow and develop the business for the
benefit of all our stakeholders. The business is well positioned with an
innovative product offering that resonates with our customers and a business
model underpinned by cost discipline and operational excellence. On behalf of
the Board, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Gary and the Executive
Management team for their leadership and the wider organisation for their
contribution to the ongoing success of the Group. I also want to thank our
customers, suppliers and other stakeholders for their continued confidence and
partnership.
Ulrik Bengtsson
Chairman
19 March 2025
Chief Executive Officer's Review: Gary Morrison
"In a year marked by lower-than-expected revenue growth, driven by our
customers' preference for lower-cost destinations, our social strategy
continued to reduce marketing expenses driving net margin growth of 7%
year-over-year. Combined with disciplined cost control, this resulted in a 19%
increase in adjusted EBITDA to €21.8 million. The increase in adjusted
EBITDA, coupled with robust cash conversion, enabled early debt repayment in
June 2024 and return to a net cash position in the third quarter. Overall, I
remain confident that our unique social strategy within the online travel
industry will continue to provide a solid platform for future growth. A
detailed growth strategy and capital allocation update will be provided on 29
April."
We achieved 6% net booking growth, primarily driven by UK and European
travellers opting for lower-cost destinations in Asia. This was particularly
evident in the first half of the year, with a 43% year-on-year increase, and
31% overall. However, weaker demand for higher-cost European destinations
partially offset this. Consequently, the average net booking value decreased
by 8% year-on-year, impacting revenue growth. As the year ended, booking
values returned to growth, primarily driven by increased bed prices in Asia.
Our app-based social strategy continued to drive growth in bookings from
Social Members (80% in FY 2024 compared to 67% in FY 2023). App bookings
increased by 16% year-on-year, contributing to a 7% rise in net margin.
Coupled with strict cost control, this resulted in €21.8 million in adjusted
EBITDA, a 19% year-on-year increase. Overall, these results and our strong
cash conversion allowed us to repay our three-year debt facility two years
ahead of schedule and return to a net cash position in Q3 2024.
Finally, we continue to advance our ESG agenda by taking responsibility for
our carbon emissions, for which we received a "Taking Climate Action" silver
label from South Pole. We are also collaborating with our hostel partners to
highlight the inherent sustainability of hostel accommodation.
Executing our Growth Strategy
Throughout 2024, we continued to implement our highly distinctive social
network growth strategy, in line with our company mission to 'help travellers
find people to hang out with'.
Our innovative social network uses customer booking data to create chat rooms
and private messaging channels, accessible through our iOS and Android apps,
connecting customers with overlapping stay dates in hostels and cities. These
chat rooms are divided into two types: hostel-based and city-based.
Hostel-based chat rooms connect customers staying in the same hostel on the
same dates, while city-based chat rooms connect customers staying in any
hostel within the same city on the same dates. City-based chatrooms are
further organised by themes, such as drinks and dancing, walking tours and
food, allowing customers to easily find other travellers with similar
interests visiting the same city at the same time. The chat rooms and private
messaging channels are available to customers who opt into the social platform
14 days before check-in and close three days after check-out.
Since launching our social network in Q2 2022, we have seen continued growth
in both membership and engagement. In Q4 2024 we passed the two million social
member milestone, with 80% of all bookings in 2024 made by social members, up
from 67% in 2023. This membership growth has been matched by even stronger
growth in engagement, with message volume significantly outpacing booking
growth among social members. These members are also highly valuable, making
approximately twice as many bookings and being three times more likely to use
the app within the first 91 days of joining compared to non-members. This
social strategy has not only driven growth in net bookings since its launch
but has also fuelled a 16% year-on-year increase in app bookings compared to
the global average of 6% in 2024. This shift towards app usage has reduced
marketing expenses as a percentage of generated revenue, from 50% in 2023 to
46% in 2024.
In Q3 2024, we streamlined the social member onboarding process, making it
easier for new members to complete their profiles. We also expanded profile
options to include travel interests, lifestyle preferences and personal
pronouns. We also launched our first recommendation engine, which orders
profiles in a homepage carousel based on users' past engagement on the
platform. Since its launch, we have seen a twofold increase in direct messages
sent to users featured in the carousel in Q4 2024 compared to the same period
in 2023, along with a similar rise in response rates. We plan to use these
interactions and profile data to refine the recommendation engine's
performance in 2025.
Finally, we enhanced the chat rooms with search and filtering tools for
message content and streamlined the reply function. These changes have
significantly improved response rates to open chat room messages in 2024, with
replies to initial messages increasing by 1.5 times from the second to the
fourth quarter.
Overall, our social network continues to significantly enhance the hostelling
experience for our customers by helping them find people to hang out with.
Looking back at 2024, we have seen a notable increase in our customers sharing
stories on social media about how Hostelworld has helped them forge new
friendships. These stories range from people joining potlucks with fellow
travellers in Vietnam and finding companions for pub crawls and gondola rides,
to solo concert-goers bonding over their shared love for Adele. Providing a
platform where people can meet new friends, even far from home, and
facilitating lasting connections is an incredibly rewarding part of our work.
We are proud to continue enabling these experiences every day.
Expanding our Inventory Coverage
Alongside our ongoing work on our social platform, we have continued to hire
more staff in our regional offices to strengthen local acquisition efforts. We
also streamlined the sign-up and onboarding processes for new hostels,
broadened the range of channel managers we support, and improved the Linkups
platform. These improvements have led to a 16% increase in new hostels
entering our acquisition pipeline and a 31% reduction in the time required to
onboard them. Collectively, these initiatives increased our market coverage
from 74% in 2023 to 77% in 2024.
The Linkups platform is a unique product for the hostel category, enabling
hostels to promote their events and activities to all Hostelworld customers on
our social platform who have matching stay dates in the same location.
Throughout 2024, we focused on simplifying the platform's content loading and
management functionality, adding features such as custom images, enhanced
location functionality, and automatic extension of recurring events. Over
40,000 individual events were uploaded during the year, resulting in 80% of
Hostelworld customers being able to see at least one Linkup during their trip.
User participation with the Linkups platform increased by 50% compared to the
previous year.
Investing in our Platform
Over the past year, we have continued to migrate our core services to a
flexible microservices-based architecture with application-level on-demand
scaling, and integrated off-the-shelf services from our cloud service provider
into our platform. These services include state-of-the-art artificial
intelligence and machine learning optimisation engines, which now power some
of our key services.
We expect this core services upgrade programme to be completed in H1 2025,
providing a strong foundation for modernising other legacy areas of our
platform as we deliver new features aligned with our growth strategy. Overall,
this multi-year effort has delivered significant benefits, including improved
monitoring, faster service speeds, reduced error rates and faster development
velocity.
Leveraging our cloud-native architecture has allowed us to make good progress
towards our goal of transitioning our infrastructure from periodic manual
configurations to infrastructure as code. This helps eliminate single points
of failure and dramatically improves the scalability and resilience of our
systems, while also reducing our hosting costs.
Progressing our ESG Agenda
The importance of sustainability across the travel industry has continued to
grow in recent years. Within the hostel sector, the majority of young
travellers say that a hostel's sustainability credentials influence their
accommodation choices, and they actively select hostels over other options
because of their positive sustainability practices.
Our hostel partners are also investing in more sustainable operations and
looking for simple sustainability management systems that align with travel
industry standards, enabling them to showcase their efforts. More broadly,
across the travel sector and other industries, there are increasing demands
for companies like Hostelworld to take further action to address climate
change risks and provide detailed disclosures about their work.
During 2024, we continued our collaboration with Bureau Veritas, updating the
calculation of scope 1 and 2 emissions for a representative group of hostels
(a 24% year-on-year increase) and comparing these with publicly available
emission data from major hotel chains. The second edition of this report,
published in February 2024, confirmed that hostelling produces significantly
fewer (-82%) scope 1 and scope 2 emissions (tCO2e) per bed night compared to a
one-night stay in a typical hotel. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the
sustainability gap between hostels and hotels has widened, with hostels
reporting a year-on-year reduction in average emissions, while hotel emissions
increased.
Our work in 2024 also focused on increasing the use of our bespoke 'Staircase
to Sustainability' platform within the hostelling category, which launched in
Q1 2024. As previously reported, we invested in developing this platform
throughout 2023 with three objectives: aligning the platform's data to GSTC
standards to ensure robust, traceable, and comparable sustainability
classifications; making the platform accessible to smaller hostel owners, who
often find existing systems too costly or time-consuming; and enabling hostel
partners to showcase their sustainability credentials to our customers and
encourage further progress. This framework includes a data collection process
within our existing hostel extranet portal, a system to determine each
hostel's sustainability classification, and a "badge" to display this
classification on our website and mobile apps. Since its launch, we have seen
strong uptake by our hostel partners, with over 2,100 hostels completing the
assessment and receiving a classification, and another 500 in the pipeline.
We've also started to see increased engagement from customers with hostels who
have published their sustainability credentials on our platform. We are proud
to champion sustainability in the hostel industry and excited to see the
impact of this framework.
For the past four years, we have focused on reducing our own scope 1 and scope
2 carbon emissions, setting reduction targets in line with the Corporate Net
Zero Standard framework published by the Science Based Targets initiative,
founded by the UN. In 2024, we expanded this work to include scope 3
emissions, with a target to reduce these by 90% by 2040. More details of these
programmes are contained within the Sustainability Report. Finally, I am
pleased to report that South Pole awarded Hostelworld silver status in 2024
for "Taking Climate Action" in recognition of our commitment to calculating
our carbon footprint, reducing our emissions, and contributing to climate
action projects to offset unavoidable emissions.
Investing in our Employees, Hostel Partners and Communities
This year, we proudly celebrated a major milestone: Hostelworld's 25th
anniversary. In September, we marked the occasion by recognising the
invaluable contributions of all our employees, with special recognition for
those with longer tenures. This was a great opportunity to reflect on the
strength of a culture that continues to drive our success. Across the globe,
our teams have built a workplace defined by inclusivity, collaboration, and
shared purpose. We were thrilled to see this commitment acknowledged
externally with the Special Recognition Award at the Irish Diversity in Tech
Awards. A highlight of the year was the introduction of our Culture Code,
which captures the essence of what makes us "us". This framework outlines our
shared mission, values, and behaviours, focusing on growth, collaboration,
adaptability, and inclusivity. It helps ensure we continue to nurture our
vibrant culture as our people managers recruit outstanding talent, and it
enhances the onboarding experience for new team members, particularly in our
hybrid working model.
In addition, we have expanded our B2B marketing programmes with
Hostelworld-hosted conferences in Chiang Mai in April, Copenhagen in
September, and Mexico City in November. These flagship events provide us with
opportunities to promote our strategy, share industry trends, and gather
feedback, and also to engage with local governments on the importance of the
hostelling sector to local tourism growth. Alongside these conferences, we
have presented at and hosted numerous events around the world over the past
year, and delivered multiple webinars in all major languages and regions.
Furthermore, we continue to expand our global markets team to meet our valued
hostel partners in person and provide detailed guidance on how to use the
breadth of our platform to maximise their business growth. Finally, we are
pleased to see continued company-wide engagement in our efforts to build a
better world. Employees continue to actively participate in volunteering,
making a difference in their local communities through both team and
individual activities. This year, we expanded our focus to better support
neurodiverse candidates and employees by partnering with expert organisations.
These partnerships provide tailored resources and programmes to empower
individuals and celebrate diverse talents, fostering a better understanding of
diverse needs. Combined with our ongoing charity partnerships and financial
support initiatives, these efforts demonstrate our employees' passion for
making a meaningful difference.
Summary
In summary, 2024 presented challenges with lower-than-expected revenue growth
due to a shift towards lower-cost destinations. However, our unique social
strategy proved resilient, driving an increase in Social Member bookings and
app usage, ultimately resulting in net margin growth of 7% year-over-year and
adjusted EBITDA growth of 19% year-over-year. We successfully navigated these
challenges, achieving net booking growth, early debt repayment, and a return
to a net cash position. We also continued to advance our ESG agenda, receiving
recognition for our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and promoting
sustainable travel options. Looking ahead, we are confident that our
distinctive social strategy will continue to be a key differentiator in the
online travel market. We will continue to invest in our technology and expand
our social features to enhance the customer experience and drive future
growth. Finally, I would like to thank our employees for their dedication and
commitment throughout the year, and our shareholders for their ongoing support
as we execute our growth strategy.
Gary Morrison
Chief Executive Officer
19 March 2025
Chief Financial Officer's Review: Caroline Sherry
"Hostelworld's strategic focus on social features continues to distinguish us
within the online travel sector. We achieved record booking volumes in key
growth markets, while simultaneously demonstrating rigorous cost management
and reducing marketing expenditure, culminating in a 19% increase in Adjusted
EBITDA year on year. The accelerated repayment of the Group's debt with AIB,
completed two years ahead of schedule and our return to a strong net cash
position during 2024, provides a solid financial foundation, empowering us to
pursue our next phase of strategic growth and deliver sustained value to our
shareholders."
Financial Highlights
2024 2023 2024 2023 2024 2023
Net Bookings 6.9m 6.5m Generated Revenue(1) €91.5m €93.7m Net Revenue €92.0m €93.3m
Net Average Booking Value ("ABV") (1) €13.21 €14.36 Direct Marketing Costs as a % of Generated Revenue(1) 46% 50% Administration Expenses €71.8m €76.6m
Profit for the Year €9.1m €5.1m Basic EPS 7.28 cent 4.21 cent
Adjusted EBITDA(1) €21.8m €18.4m Adjusted EBITDA Margin(1) 24% 20%
Adjusted Profit after Tax(1) €17.4m €12.0m Adjusted EPS(1) 13.97 cent 9.91 cent
Cash €8.2m €7.5m Net Cash/(Debt) (1) €2.0m (€12.3m) Cash Conversion(1) 66% 75%
(1)The Group uses Alternative Performance Measures ("APMs") which are non-IFRS
measures to monitor the performance of its operations and of the Group as a
whole. These APMs along with their definitions and rationale are provided in
the Appendix 1.
Revenue
Net bookings of 6.9m, grew year on year by 6% (2023: 6.5m) with this growth
driven primarily by growth in bookings from UK and European travellers to
lower cost destinations. Both Asia and Central America recorded record booking
volumes. This change in customer trends was the primary driver of an 8%
decrease in net ABVs, with net ABV reducing to €13.21 (2023: €14.36).
Generated revenue, which comprises of gross revenue less cancellations,
declined 2% year on year to €91.5m, (2023: €93.7m) because of lower ABV.
Net revenue, after considering adjustments for deferred revenue, ancillary
revenue streams (featured listings), vouchers, refunds and other accounting
adjustments, declined 1% year on year to €92.0m (2023: €93.3m). Within
these adjustments, the most notable is featured listings advertising revenue,
revenue generated from hostels advertising on our platform, which grew to
€2.0m (2023: €1.2m).
Costs and Profitability
Administrative expenses totalled €71.8m (2023: €76.6m), a decrease of
€4.8m year-on-year. The Group's direct marketing costs decreased by €4.1m
to €42.5m (2023: €46.6m). Marketing % of generated revenue amounted to
46%, a 4% reduction compared to prior year (2023: 50%). This reduction in
marketing spend was aided by Hostelworld's app-centric social strategy with
App bookings growing 16% year on year and the proportion of bookings made by
Social Members increasing to 80% (2023: 67%). This has further contributed to
a 7% increase in net margin to €46.6m (2023: €43.7m).
Wage and salaries reduced €0.7m, year on year, to €19.0m (2023: €19.7m),
with the combined impact of wage inflation and modest headcount increase
(2024: 227, 2023: 223), offset by lower discretionary compensation.
With a continued focus on cost management, other operating costs' key
components remained largely in line year on year, most notably credit card
fees of €2.9m (2023: €3.0m) and platform operating costs of €3.2m (2023:
€3.2m), despite the increase in booking volumes. The Group incurred a
foreign exchange loss of €0.1m (2023: €0.2m). Current year loss arose with
the strengthening of the US dollar against the Euro in the second half of the
year.
Profitability metrics increased year on year with an adjusted EBITDA of
€21.8m (2023: €18.4m) in line with our market guidance and represented
growth of €3.4m, +19% compared to prior year. Operating profit amounted to
€11.3m, +126% compared to PY, 2023: €5.0m.
Exceptional Items
Exceptional items warrant separate disclosure due to their nature or
materiality. The Group incurred no exceptional items in 2024. Prior period
exceptional items relate to costs incurred on refinancing of a legacy COVID-19
debt facility with HPS totalling €3.6m, broken down as €0.7m of early
repayment penalty interest, €0.1m of transaction costs relating to exiting
the old facility and €2.8m accelerated interest costs which relate to
transaction costs capitalised on drawdown of HPS facility in February 2021,
which were expected to be amortised over a five-year period to 2026, but
unwound in full on refinancing.
Impairment of Associate
In 2019 the Group made an investment in an associate called Goki Pty Limited
("Goki"), a start-up focused on the sale and supply of locks to hostels and
other accommodation providers. Goki's sales pipeline was heavily impacted by
COVID-19 and it operates in a market that has experienced a sharp increase in
competitors in recent times. The Group recognised an impairment of €1.2m as
at 31 December 2024, reducing carrying value of its investment in Goki to nil,
based on a deteriorating performance and 2025 projections.
Other Income
An amount of €1.3m has been recognised in other income relating to a
revision in the probability of payment and subsequent unwind of a balance
sheet provision for amounts owed to customers from bookings cancelled due to
COVID-19 related travel restrictions. The Group determined that the
possibility of an outflow of economic benefit is remote despite attempts to
settle payment.
Share-Based Payment
The Group incurred a total share-based payment expense of €1.8m (2023:
€1.7m) arising on the issuance of options in accordance with the Group's
Restricted Share Awards ("RSU") and Long-Term Incentive Plans ("LTIP"). On 29
April 2024, 1,345,870 shares were issued to satisfy long term incentive plan
awards in relation to LTIP 2021. 100% of the related performance obligations
were satisfied. On 03 May 2024 a new LTIP plan of 1,909,075 awards was struck
for executives and key members of the Hostelworld team.
Net Finance Costs
The Group incurred €0.3m of finance costs (2023: €2.5m), driven by
interest costs arising on the Group's AIB facility totalling €0.4m, offset
by a credit recognised of €0.2m relating to the release of interest on debt
warehoused no longer required. Prior period expense relates to AIB and HPS
finance interest costs with decrease in costs year on year driven by the
refinancing completed in May 2023 and repayment of AIB facility in June 2024.
Earnings per Share
Basic earnings per share for the Group amounted to 7.28 € cent (2023: 4.21
€ cent), and adjusted earnings per share amounted to 13.97 € cent per
share (2023: 9.91 € cent per share) with the return to profitability, of
both metrics, reflective of the business's strong performance.
Current and Deferred Taxation
The Group corporation tax charge for 2024 is €0.3m (2023: €0.2m) and
relates to our international operations where tax losses from our Irish
operations cannot be utilised.
The Group deferred tax charge amounted to €1.7m (2023: credit of €6.4m).
In 2023 the Group recognised an additional deferred tax asset of €6.4m
arising from prior year trading losses and interest relief which had no expiry
date and can be carried forward indefinitely. The asset recognised in the
prior year is being unwound to the Income Statement to align to how the tax
losses and interest relief is being utilised. Deferred tax assets are
recognised to the extent that it is probable that future taxable profits will
be available against which any unused tax losses and unused tax credits can be
utilised. The Group has no unrecognised deferred tax assets.
Net Cash and Financing
At the balance sheet date, the Group had repaid in full its AIB debt facility,
two years ahead of schedule, and had a closing net cash position of €2.0m
(2023: net debt €12.3m). The repaid facility comprised of a €10m term loan
repaid in full in June 2024 (€1.7m in 2023, €8.3m in 2024), a €7.5m
revolving credit facility repaid in full in Q1 (€5.5m in 2023, €2.0m in
2024) and an undrawn €2.5m overdraft. At the date of repayment all security
and covenant requirements held by AIB were released. The Group continues to
hold an undrawn €2.5m overdraft facility with AIB.
The AIB facility replaced a €30m debt facility drawn down in February 2021
with HPS Investment Partners, following a refinancing in May 2023.
Cash conversion reduced to 66%, (2023: 75%), driven by an increase in working
capital. 2024 closing cash balance of €8.2m (2023: €7.5m) with €6.2m
warehoused debt outstanding (2023: €9.6m).
Debt Warehoused
During COVID-19, the Group availed of the Irish Revenue Commissioners tax
warehousing scheme and warehoused €9.4m by deferring payment of all Irish
employer taxes from February 2020 to March 2022. The Group agreed a repayment
plan with the Irish Revenue Commissioners of a 15% downpayment in May 2024,
followed by regular monthly repayments thereafter over a three-year period.
Monthly payments will continue over a three-year period to April 2027. Total
amount warehoused at 31 December 2024 was €6.2m (2023: €9.6m). In February
2024 the Irish Revenue Commissioners announced that 0% interest would apply to
debt warehoused, with the reduction in rate applying to any interest amounts
accrued to date. As a result, the Group wrote-off €0.2m of an interest
charge. The Group continues to monitor and comply with the appropriate Revenue
guidelines applicable to this scheme.
Deferred Revenue
The deferred revenue provision at year end totalled €3.5m (2024: €3.9m),
of which €3.2m (2023: €3.4m) related to a provision for bookings made
under the free cancellation policy, where a customer can cancel and receive a
refund. The balance is comprised of deferred revenue for our featured listing
and Roamies products. This provision balance will unwind in 2025.
Development Labour
As a technology company Hostelworld places a focus on fostering innovation and
investing in its technology. In 2024 development labour intangible asset
additions totalled €5.5m, (2023: €4.0m), with an increase year on year
driven by the nature of work completed, wage inflation and increased external
contractors engaged to assist on delivery of product features.
Work completed in 2024 related to delivering additional features on our social
platform including 'hang outs', an evolution of Linkups, enriched profiles and
chat functionality, modernising our platforms, and revamping our hostel
activations process. Development labour includes internal development labour
of €3.7m (2023: €2.9m) relating to staff costs capitalised during the
year, and external development labour of €1.8m (2023: €1.1m) relating to
external contractors who have specialist skills.
Principal Risks and Uncertainties
The Board of Hostelworld Group plc holds overall responsibility for risk and
sets the Group risk appetite including determining the extent of risk that is
tolerable in pursuit of its strategic objectives. The Board, together with the
Audit Committee conduct a detailed formal half-year and full-year review of
the risk register, including emerging risks and the mitigating actions that
are in place. Emerging risks are identified from areas of uncertainty, which
may not have a significant impact on the business currently but may have the
potential to adversely affect the Group in the future. There is one emerging
risk in the current year relating to artificial intelligence. Artificial
intelligence is an emerging technology with wide-ranging impacts for cyber and
data security, competition and third-party management amongst other areas.
Although it includes significant crossover with existing risks the
pervasiveness and rapid pace of change warrants assessment on a standalone
basis. The risk associated with the Group's successful execution of strategy
is a new risk in the current year, as we have moved forward from COVID-19,
formally repaid our debt facilities, and are focused on delivering against the
ambitious targets set in our 2022 Capital Markets Day and sharing our targets
at our 2025 Capital Market Day. Financial risk has been removed as a principal
risk. We repaid our term loan facility in full during 2024 and while there
remains a certain level of foreign exchange movement risk this is not material
to the Group and no longer represents a primary risk. rThe Group's principal
risks and uncertainties which are summarised in the risk profile table below.
The Group actively manages these and all other risks through its risk
management and internal control processes.
Strategic and External Risk Technological, Cyber and Data Risk Financial Risk Operational and Regulatory Risk
The systems we use to power our business, and the data we hold.
The processes and people we use to power the Hostelworld model.
Any external risks outside of the Group's control impacting our business.
Integrity of reporting and viability of the Group.
Risks newly disclosed Execution of strategy
Emerging risk Artificial Intelligence
Increased level of risk Data Security
Cyber Security
Unchanged level of risk Macroeconomic Conditions Platform Evolution and Innovation Taxation People
Competition Marketing Optimisation Brand and Reputation
Impact of Uncontrollable Events Third-party Reliance
Climate Change and Sustainability
Regulation
Business Continuity
Removed due to reduced level of risk Financial
Investor Relations
The Group has a proactive approach to investor relations. The release of our
annual and interim results, along with quarterly trading updates, provide
regular information regarding our performance and are accompanied by
presentations, webcasts and conference calls. In May 2024, an AGM was held
providing engagement channels for our shareholders to send advance questions
to the Board, with all details relating to the AGM published on the Company's
website.
We held a number of investor roadshows and attended industry conferences.
These engagements provided us an opportunity for the management team to meet
existing and/or potential investors and analysts in a concentrated set of
meetings. This direct feedback and input on the investor community's
perspective of the Company is reflected upon to ensure that our investor
relations communications remain meaningful and effective.
Dividend
The Board does not expect to pay a cash dividend, under its current policy, in
respect of the 2024 financial year. Any payment of cash dividends will be
subject to the Group's cash position, Group strategy, and subject to
compliance with Companies Act 2006 requirements regarding ensuring sufficiency
of distributable reserves at the time of paying the dividend. A detailed
growth strategy and capital allocation update will be provided on 29 April
2025 as part of our Capital Markets Day.
Caroline Sherry
Chief Financial Officer
HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
2024 2023
Total Pre-exceptional Exceptional (Note 5) Total
Notes €'m €'m €'m €'m
Revenue 3 92.0 93.3 - 93.3
Operating expenses 4 (80.9) (88.2) (0.2) (88.4)
Other income 6 1.3 - - -
Impairment of investment in associate 12 (1.2) - - -
Share of results of associate 12 0.1 0.1 - 0.1
Operating profit 11.3 5.2 (0.2) 5.0
Finance income 0.1 - - -
Finance costs (0.3) (2.5) (3.6) (6.1)
Profit/(loss) before taxation 11.1 2.7 (3.8) (1.1)
Taxation (charge)/credit 8 (2.0) 6.2 - 6.2
Profit for the year attributable to the equity owners of the parent Company 9.1 8.9 (3.8) 5.1
Basic earnings per share (euro cent) 9 7.28 4.21
Diluted earnings per share (euro cent) 9 7.01 4.07
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2024
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Profit for the year 9.1 5.1
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Nil - -
9.1 5.1
Total comprehensive income for the year attributable
to equity owners of the parent Company
HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2024
Notes 2024 2023
€'m €'m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 10 63.5 66.5
Property, plant and equipment 0.5 0.8
Deferred tax assets 11 13.8 15.5
Investment in associate 12 - 1.1
Cash and cash equivalents - 0.8
77.8 84.7
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 4.5 3.3
Corporation tax - 0.1
Cash and cash equivalents 8.2 6.7
12.7 10.1
Total assets 90.5 94.8
Issued capital and reserves attributable to equity owners of the parent
Share capital 13 1.3 1.3
Share premium 13 14.4 14.4
Other reserves 14 3.0 2.9
Retained earnings 51.4 40.6
Total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent Company 70.1 59.2
Non-current liabilities
Non-current debt
Debt warehoused 15 3.5 6.4
Borrowings 17 - 4.8
Lease liabilities - 0.1
3.5 11.3
Current liabilities 15 2.7 3.2
Current debt 17 - 5.4
Debt warehoused
Borrowings
Trade and other payables
Trade payables 16 4.1 3.3
Deferred revenue 16 3.5 3.9
Accruals and other payables 16 6.0 7.8
Lease liabilities 0.3 0.5
Corporation tax 8 0.3 0.2
16.9 24.3
Total liabilities 20.4 35.6
Total equity and liabilities 90.5 94.8
Hostelworld Group plc registration number 9818705 (England and Wales)
HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER
2024
Share capital Share premium Retained earnings Other reserves Total
Notes €'m €'m €'m €'m €'m
Balance at 01 January 2023 1.2 14.3 30.3 6.4 52.2
Issue of shares 0.1 0.1 - - 0.2
Total comprehensive income for the year - - 5.1 - 5.1
Credit to equity for equity settled share-based payments - - - 1.7 1.7
Transfer of exercise, vesting or expiry of warrants - - 3.1 (3.1) -
Transfer of exercised and expired share-based awards 2.1 (2.1) -
Balance at 31 December 2023 1.3 14.4 40.6 2.9 59.2
Issue of shares 13 - - - - -
Total comprehensive income for the year - - 9.1 - 9.1
Credit to equity for equity settled share- based payments 14 - - - 1.8 1.8
Transfer of exercised and expired share-based awards 14 - - 1.7 (1.7) -
Balance at 31 December 2024 1.3 14.4 51.4 3.0 70.1
HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
Notes 2024 2023
€'m €'m
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit for the year 9.1 5.1
Taxation charge/(credit) 2.0 (6.2)
Profit/(loss) before tax 11.1 (1.1)
Amortisation and depreciation 4 9.1 11.8
Share of results of associate 12 (0.1) (0.1)
Impairment of investment in associate 1.2 -
Non-cash movements in provisions (1.3) -
Financial income (0.1) -
Finance expense 0.3 2.5
Finance expense (exceptional) - 3.5
Employee equity settled share-based payment expense 1.8 1.7
Changes in working capital items:
(Decrease)/increase in trade and other payables (0.2) 2.4
Increase in trade and other receivables (1.2) -
Cash generated from operations 20.6 20.7
Interest paid (including lease interest) (0.3) (3.0)
Interest received 0.1 -
Income tax paid (0.1) (0.3)
Net cash generated from operating activities 20.3 17.4
Cash flows from investing activities
Acquisition / development of intangible assets 10 (5.5) (4.0)
Purchases of property, plant and equipment (0.1) (0.1)
Net cash used in investing activities (5.6) (4.1)
Cash flows from financing activities
Drawdown of borrowings 17 - 17.4
Transaction costs relating to borrowings 17 - (0.2)
Repayment of borrowings 17 (10.3) (41.2)
Repayment of warehoused debt 15 (3.2) -
Proceeds received on issue of shares 13 - 0.1
Repayments of obligations under lease liabilities (0.5) (0.9)
Net cash used in financing activities (14.0) (24.8)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents 0.7 (11.5)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year 7.5 19.0
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year 8.2 7.5
HOSTELWORLD GROUP PLC
NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2024
1. General Information
Hostelworld Group plc, hereinafter "the Company", is a public limited company
domiciled in Ireland, incorporated in the United Kingdom on the 09 October
2015 under the Companies Act 2006 and is registered in England and Wales. The
Company's shares are quoted on Euronext Dublin and the London Stock Exchange.
The registered office of the Company is One Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, B3
3AX, United Kingdom.
The financial information, comprising of the consolidated income statement,
consolidated statement of comprehensive income, consolidated statement of
financial position, consolidated statement of changes in equity, consolidated
statement of cash flows and related notes, has been taken from the
consolidated financial statements of Hostelworld Group plc for the year ended
31 December 2024. The 2024 Financial Statements were approved and authorised
for issue by the Board of Directors on 19 March 2025 and signed on its behalf
by G Morrison and C Sherry. The financial information does not constitute
statutory accounts within the meaning of sections 435(1) and (2) of the
Companies Act 2006 or contain sufficient information to comply with the
disclosure requirements of International Financial Reporting Standards
("IFRS").
An unqualified report on the consolidated financial statements for the year
ended 31 December 2024 has been given by the auditors, KPMG. It did not
include reference to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way
of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain any statement
under section 498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. The consolidated
financial statements will be filed with the Registrar of Companies, subject to
their approval by the Company's shareholders at the Company's Annual General
Meeting on 07 May 2025.
New accounting standards and amendments to existing standards implemented in
2024 did not have a material impact on the Group. The Group has changed the
presentation of its consolidated financial statements from amounts presented
in thousands (€'000) to millions (€m) effective from the financial year
ended 31 December 2024. This change reflects the Group's return to normalised
trading volumes post COVID-19 in the prior year, making the presentation in
millions more appropriate for providing clearer and more relevant financial
information to the users. The change in presentation has been applied
retrospectively for all comparative information included in these financial
statements to ensure consistency and comparability.
2. Going Concern
Hostelworld's business activities, together with the main factors likely to
affect its future development and performance, are described in the Chief
Executive's Review. After due consideration and review, the Directors have a
reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue in
continue in operation for the foreseeable future, a period of not less than 12
months from the date of this report. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the
going concern basis in preparing the Group financial statements.
3. Revenue and Segmental Analysis
The Group is managed as a single business unit which provides software and
data processing services that facilitate hostel, hotel and other accommodation
worldwide, including ancillary on-line advertising revenue.
The Directors determine, and present operating segments based on the
information that is provided internally to the Chief Executive Officer, who is
the Company's Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM"). When making resource
allocation decisions, the CODM evaluates booking numbers and ABVs. The
objective in making resource allocation decisions is to maximise consolidated
financial results. The CODM assesses the performance of the business based on
the consolidated adjusted profit after tax of the Group throughout the year.
This measure excludes the effects of certain income and expense items, which
are unusual by virtue of their size and incidence, in the context of the
Group's ongoing core operations, such as the impairment of investment in
associate and other one-off items of expenditure.
All revenue is derived wholly from external customers and is generated from a
large number of customers, none of whom is individually significant. The
Group's major revenue-generating asset class comprises of its software and
data processing services and is directly attributable to its reportable
segment operations. In addition, as the Group is managed as a single business
unit, all other assets and liabilities have been allocated to the Group's
single reportable segment. There have been no changes to the basis of
segmentation or the measurement basis for the segment profit or loss. Revenue
split by continent is presented as follows:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Europe 51.6 56.4
Americas 17.0 17.3
Asia, Africa and Oceania 23.4 19.6
Total revenue 92.0 93.3
Disaggregation of revenue is presented as follows:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Technology and data processing fees 90.0 92.1
Advertising revenue and ancillary services 2.0 1.2
Total revenue 92.0 93.3
Revenue is recognised at the time the reservation is made in respect of
non-refundable commission on the basis that the Group has met its performance
obligations at the time the booking is made. In respect of the free
cancellation product, which offers the traveller the opportunity to make a
booking on a free cancellation basis and to receive a refund of their deposit
in certain circumstances, such related revenue is not recognised until the
last cancellation date has passed as one party can withdraw from the contract
until such a date has passed. Deferred revenue is expected to be recognised
within twelve months of initial recognition. As at 31 December 2024, €3.2
million of revenue relating to free cancellation bookings has been deferred
(2023: €3.4 million).
The Group's non-current assets are largely located in Ireland and Portugal for
current year and prior year, and Australia in the prior year. These are
disaggregated below.
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Total non-current assets 77.8 84.7
Analysed as:
Ireland 77.7 83.5
Australia - 1.1
Portugal 0.1 0.1
4. Operating Expenses Excluding Impairment
Profit for the year has been arrived at after charging the following operating
costs:
2024 2023
Notes €'m €'m
Marketing expenses - direct 42.5 46.6
Marketing expenses - brand 0.8 0.7
Staff costs 19.0 19.7
Credit card and other processing fees 2.9 3.0
Platform operating costs 3.2 3.2
External contractor costs 1.7 1.3
Exceptional items 5 - 0.2
FX loss 0.1 0.2
Other administrative costs 1.6 1.7
Total administrative expenses 71.8 76.6
Depreciation of tangible fixed assets 0.6 1.0
Amortisation of intangible fixed assets 8.5 10.8
Total operating expenses excluding impairment 80.9 88.4
Other administrative costs are net of external contractor costs capitalised of
€1.2 million (2023: €0.8 million) and include rent and rates, legal and
professional and training and recruitment.
5. Exceptional Items
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Restructuring costs - 3.8
Total - 3.8
Included in prior year exceptional items are operating costs of €0.2 million
and finance costs of €3.6 million. These exceptional items primarily relate
to costs incurred on refinancing of the HPS facility and included early
repayment penalty interest, transaction costs relating to exiting the old
facility and accelerated interest costs.
6. Staff Costs
The average monthly number of people employed (including Executive Directors)
was as follows:
2024 2023
Average number of persons employed:
Sales and enabling 94 94
Technical 134 137
Total 228 231
The aggregate remuneration costs of these employees is analysed as follows:
2024 2023
Notes €'m €'m
Staff costs comprise:
Wages and salaries 17.7 17.9
Social security costs 2.2 2.1
Pensions costs 0.5 0.4
Other benefits 0.5 0.5
Share option charge 1.8 1.7
22.7 22.6
Capitalised development labour 10 (3.7) (2.9)
Total 19.0 19.7
Capitalised development labour increase year on year driven by the nature of
2024 projects completed and wage inflation.
7. Other Income
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Provision release 1.3 -
Total 1.3 -
Amount relates to a revision in the probability of payment and subsequent
release of a balance sheet provision for amounts owed to customers from
bookings cancelled due to COVID-19 related travel restrictions. The Group have
determined that the possibility of an outflow of economic benefit is remote
despite attempts to settle payment.
8. Taxation
2024 2023
Notes €'m €'m
Corporation tax:
Current year charge 0.3 0.2
Origination and reversal of temporary differences 11 1.7 (6.4)
Total tax charge/(credit) for the year 2.0 (6.2)
The Irish 12.5% corporation tax rate has been used as this is the rate at
which most of the Group's profits are taxed. Taxation for other jurisdictions
is calculated at the rates prevailing in the respective jurisdictions. The
corporation tax charge that arises relates primarily to international
operations where tax losses from our Irish operations cannot be utilised. The
charge for the year can be reconciled to the consolidated income statement as
follows:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Profit/(loss) before tax on continuing operations 11.1 (1.1)
Tax at the Irish corporation tax rate of 12.5% (2023: 12.5%) 1.4 (0.1)
Effects of:
Tax effect of expenses that are not deductible in determining taxable profit
0.5 1.2
Tax effect of losses utilised (0.4) (0.4)
Tax effect of income taxed at different rates - 0.1
Depreciation and amortisation less than capital allowances (1.3) (0.7)
Effect of different tax rates of subsidiaries operating in other jurisdictions 0.1 0.1
Net movement/(recognition) of deferred tax asset (note 11) 1.7 (6.4)
Total tax charge/(credit) for the year 2.0 (6.2)
9. Earnings per Share
Basic earnings per share is computed by dividing the profit for the year after
tax available to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of
ordinary shares outstanding during the year.
2024 2023
Weighted average number of shares in issue ('m) 124.5 122
Profit for the year (€'m) 9.1 5.1
Basic earnings per share (euro cent) 7.28 4.21
Diluted earnings per share is computed by adjusting the weighted average
number of ordinary shares in issue to assume conversion of all potential
dilutive ordinary shares, relating to share options.
2024 2023
Weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue ('m) 124.5 122.0
Effect of dilutive potential ordinary shares:
Share options ('m) 4.9 4.4
Weighted average number of ordinary shares for the purpose of diluted earnings 129.4 126.4
per share ('m)
Diluted earnings per share (euro cent) 7.01 4.07
10. Intangible Assets
Additions during the period included capitalised development costs of €5.5
million (2023: €4.0 million) of which internal development labour amounted
to €3.7 million (2023: €2.9 million) for staff costs capitalised during
the year, and other internally generated additions of €1.8 million (2023:
€1.1 million). Capitalised development labour increase year on year driven
by the nature of 2024 projects completed and wage inflation.
11. Deferred Taxation
The following are the major deferred taxation assets recognised by the Group
and movements thereon during the current and prior reporting year. Deferred
tax assets primarily relating to temporary differences between the carrying
value of intangible assets and their tax base.
Intangible assets Property, plant and equipment €'m Losses and interest relief Total
€'m €'m €'m
At 01 January 2023 9.0 0.1 - 9.1
Credit/(charge) to income statement 1.0 (0.1) 5.5 6.4
At 01 January 2024 10.0 - 5.5 15.5
Charge to income statement (1.3) - (0.4) (1.7)
At 31 December 2024 8.7 - 5.1 13.8
In the prior year the Group recognised a deferred tax asset relating COVID-19
trading losses and interest relief which can be carried forward, on the basis
that it was probable that the asset would be recovered through future taxable
profits. There is no expiry on these assets. The Group does not have any
unrecognised deferred tax asset.
12. Investment in Associate
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Opening balance 1.1 1.0
Share of results of associate 0.1 0.1
Impairment in investment (1.2) -
Closing balance - 1.1
The Group holds an investment in Goki Pty Limited, an Australian resident
company. Goki Pty Limited's principal activity is the sale of locks and
supporting technology systems, and its principal place of business is
Australia. Although the Group incurred a profit in their share of results in
the associate in the current year this largely arose from H1 2024 trading
which deteriorated over H2 2024. As at 31 December 2024 the Group recognised
an impairment loss for the full €1.2 million carrying value at 31 December
2024 driven by a H2 decline in the associate's financial performance, and
based on future projections received from Goki Pty Limited which do not
support profitability driven by unfavourable changes in market conditions
including increased competition and inventory supply issues.
13. Share Capital
No of shares of €0.01 each Ordinary shares Share premium Total
(thousands) €'m €'m €'m
At 31 December 2023 123,639 1.3 14.4 15.7
Share issue - LTIP 1,346 - - -
Share issue - SAYE 5 - - -
At 31 December 2024 124,990 1.3 14.4 15.7
On 29 April 2024 the Company issued 1,345,870 shares to satisfy long term
incentive plan awards in relation to LTIP 2021 at €0.01 per share, and on 22
April 2024 the Company issued 5,245 shares to satisfy terms of the SAYE 2020
scheme at €0.01 per share.
14. Other Reserves
The analysis of movement in reserves is shown in the statement of changes in
equity. Reconciliation and movement of amounts included in other reserves are
set out below:
Foreign currency translation reserve Share-based payment reserve Warrant reserve Total other reserves
€'m €'m €'m €'m
Balance at 01 January 2023 - 3.3 3.1 6.4
Transfer of exercised and expired share-based awards - (2.1) - (2.1)
Transfer on exercise, vesting or expiry of warrants - - (3.1) (3.1)
Credit to equity for equity settled share-based payments - 1.7 - 1.7
Balance at 31 December 2023 - 2.9 - 2.9
Transfer of exercised and expired share-based awards - (1.7) - (1.7)
Credit to equity for equity settled share-based payments - 1.8 - 1.8
Balance at 31 December 2024 - 3.0 - 3.0
15. Warehoused Payroll Taxes
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Opening balance 9.6 9.4
Repayments made (3.2) -
Finance costs (unwind)/costs (0.2) 0.2
Closing balance 6.2 9.6
The Group availed of the Irish Revenue tax warehousing scheme and deferred
payment on all Irish employer taxes arising during the period from February
2021 to March 2022. In 2024 the Group released €0.2 million of interest,
which had not been paid, relating to an announcement by the Revenue
Commissioners on 05 February 2024 that the applicable rate of interest on debt
warehoused would retrospectively reduce to 0%.
The Group made an initial down payment of 15% in line with the repayment terms
set with the Irish Revenue Commissioners in May 2024, followed by monthly
payments of €0.2 million thereafter which will continue over a three-year
period to April 2027. This repayment plan is reflected in the classification
of the liability between current and non-current.
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Non-current liability 3.5 6.4
Current liability 2.7 3.2
Total warehoused payroll taxes 6.2 9.6
16. Trade and Other Payables
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Current liabilities
Trade payables 4.1 3.3
Accruals and other payables 5.2 5.9
Customer provisions 0.1 1.3
Deferred revenue 3.5 3.9
Payroll taxes (non-warehoused) 0.7 0.6
Total 13.6 15.0
Reduction in customer provisions relates to an unwind of a refund provision
which the Group now consider that the possibility of an outflow of economic
benefit is remote, with a release recognised in other income. Decrease in
accruals and other payables relates mainly to discretionary compensation for
staff employed by the Group (2024: €2.1 million, 2023: €3.2 million).
At 31 December 2024, €3.2 million of revenue was deferred relating to free
cancellation bookings (2023: €3.4 million), €0.2 million was deferred
relating to featured listings (2023: €0.4 million) and €0.1 million was
deferred relating to Roamies (2023: €0.1 million).
17. Borrowings
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Opening Balance 10.2 31.1
Repayments (HPS) - (34.1)
Drawdown (AIB) - 17.4
Repayments (AIB) (10.3) (7.1)
Transaction costs relating to borrowings (AIB) - (0.2)
Finance costs 0.4 2.4
Finance costs (exceptional items) - 2.8
Finance interest paid (0.3) (2.1)
Total - 10.2
In 2021 the Group signed a €30 million five-year term loan facility with
certain investment funds and accounts of HPS Investment Partners LLC. In May
2023 the facility was repaid in full and refinanced with AIB. A three-year
facility was signed with AIB on 09 May 2023. This facility was comprised of
a €10.0 million term loan which was repaid in full in June 2024 (€1.7
million in 2023, €8.3 million in 2024), a €7.5 million revolving credit
facility which was repaid in full in February 2024 (€5.5 million in 2023,
€2.0 million in 2024) and an undrawn €2.5 million overdraft. No early
repayment fees applied and at the date of repayment all security and covenant
requirements held by AIB were released. The Group continues to hold an undrawn
€2.5 million overdraft facility with AIB, retained for flexibility.
Reduction in interest costs are driven by the refinancing in May 2023, and
early repayment of the AIB facilities. Finance costs expense include non-cash
amounts relating to transaction costs capitalised for professional fees
incurring on the initial drawdown of the AIB facility in May 2023.
Borrowings are classified in the consolidated statement of financial position
as:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Non-current borrowings - 4.8
Current borrowings - 5.4
Total - 10.2
APPENDIX 1: GLOSSARY OF ALTERNATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31
DECEMBER 2024
In reporting financial information, the Group uses the following APMs which
are non-IFRS measures which provide useful additional information to monitor
the performance of its operations and of the Group as a whole. APMs are not a
substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measurements.
APM Closest Equivalent IFRS Measure Definition/Purpose
Adjusted EBITDA Operating profit Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and
amortisation (non-cash items), also excluding results and impairment of
associate, other income, share based payment expenses and any items defined by
management as exceptional in nature.
This APM removes items which do not impact underlying trading performance and
allows the Group and external readers, including investors, to review baseline
profitability of the Group trade.
Adjusted EBITDA Margin No direct equivalent Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA as defined above divided
by net revenue.
Adjusted EBITDA margin allows the Group and external readers, including
investors, to assess the business's baseline profitability and how much
revenue the business converts into Adjusted EBITDA profits by removing items
which do not impact underlying trading performance.
Adjusted Profit after Tax Profit after tax Adjusted profit after tax is profit excluding items that do not impact trading
profitability, such as items classified by management as exceptional in
nature, amortisation of acquired domain and technology intangibles, share
based payment expenses, impairment of associate, other income and deferred
tax. These items can have a large impact on the reported result for the year,
and which can make underlying trends difficult to interpret.
Adjusted profit after tax is used by the Group to calculate the potential
dividend when a dividend is being paid, subject to company law requirements
regarding distributable profits, and the dividend policy within the Group. The
Chief Operating Decision Maker assesses the performance of the business based
on the consolidated adjusted profit after tax of the Group throughout the
year.
Adjusted EPS Basic earnings per share Adjusted EPS is calculated on the weighted average number of ordinary shares
in issue, using the adjusted profit after tax.
Adjusted EPS is an additional measure of underlying performance that excludes
items classified by management as exceptional in nature, amortisation of
acquired domain and technology intangibles, share based payment expenses,
impairment of associate, other income and deferred tax.
Adjusted EPS is a metric included in the Executive Director and Senior
Management remuneration for the current and prior year LTIP plan being struck.
Adjusted Free Cashflow Net cash from operating activities Adjusted free cash flow is net cash from operating activities adjusted for
capital expenditure, acquisition/capitalisation of intangible assets, lease
liabilities payments and cash impact of items classified as exceptional by
management.
Adjusted free cash flow is a measure which group management and external
readers, including investors, use to assess the amount of cash the Group is
generating from its trade and excludes items which do not relate to the
day-to-day activities of the Group. It is one of the metrics which is used by
management in assessing the amount of cash available for items such as
borrowing repayments, dividends, share repurchases and acquisitions.
Adjusted Free Cashflow Conversion No direct equivalent Adjusted Free Cash Flow Conversion % is calculated as Adjusted free cash flow
as defined above divided by Adjusted EBITDA and measures the Group's ability
to convert Adjusted EBITDA into free cash flow.
As above, adjusted free cash flow conversion is a measure which group
management and external readers including investors can use to measure the
Group's ability to convert Adjusted EBITDA into free cash flow.
Net Cash/(Debt) Total borrowings and cash and cash equivalents Net cash/(debt) represents the total debt obligations of the Group, net of
liquid resources. It equates to short-term debt and long-term debt (including
the statutory liability for debt warehoused and any external bank borrowings)
less cash and equivalents.
Net cash/(debt) is used by the Group to monitor its overall leverage and
liquidity position which assists in management's assessment of financial
stability and strategic decision making.
Net ABV No direct equivalent Net ABV represents the average value paid by a customer for a net booking
calculated as generated revenue divided by total net bookings.
Direct Marketing Costs as a % of Generated Revenue No direct equivalent Direct marketing costs as a percentage of generated revenue is an APM which
looks at the efficiency of marketing spend. Generated revenue is utilised here
to understand the relationship between bookings/revenue and the direct
marketing costs for those bookings.
This APM is used by the Group's management to identify how efficient the
Groups marketing channels are.
Other Operating Costs as a % of Generated Revenue No direct equivalent Other operating costs as a percentage of generated revenue is an APM which
looks at cost management within the Group, and how much operating spend is
needed to sustain day to day activities. Generated revenue is utilised here to
understand the relationship between bookings/revenue and the operating costs.
This APM is used by the Group's management and external readers including
investors to measure the Group's cost management.
Net Margin Operating profit Net margin is an APM which is calculated by deducting direct costs from
generated revenue. Direct costs are comprised of direct marketing costs and
credit card and other processing fees.
This APM is used by the Group's management to identify the trading profit
margin, excluding administration costs/day to day expenses.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin
Reconciliation between operating profit for the year and adjusted EBITDA:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Operating profit 11.3 5.0
Depreciation 0.6 1.0
Amortisation of development costs 3.6 3.0
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 4.9 7.8
R&D tax credit (0.2) (0.2)
Other income (1.3) -
Impairment of investment in associate 1.2 -
Share of result of associate (0.1) (0.1)
Exceptional items - 0.2
Share based payment expense 1.8 1.7
Adjusted EBITDA 21.8 18.4
Calculation of adjusted EBITDA margin:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Adjusted EBITDA 21.8 18.4
Net revenue 92.0 93.3
Adjusted EBITDA Margin % 24% 20%
Adjusted Profit after Tax (Adjusted PAT) and Adjusted Earnings per Share
Reconciliation between profit after tax and adjusted profit after tax:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Profit for the year 9.1 5.1
Exceptional items - 3.8
Amortisation of acquired intangible assets 4.9 7.8
Share based payment expense 1.8 1.7
Deferred tax 1.7 (6.4)
Other income (1.3) -
Impairment of investment in associate 1.2 -
Adjusted profit after tax 17.4 12.0
Calculation of adjusted earnings per share:
2024 2023
Adjusted profit after tax (€'m) 17.4 12.0
Weighted average shares in issue ('m) 124.5 122.0
Adjusted earnings per share (cent) 13.97 9.91
Adjusted Free Cash Flow and Adjusted Free Cashflow Conversion
Calculation of adjusted free cash flow:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Opening Cash 7.5 19.0
Closing Cash 8.2 7.5
Net increase / (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents 0.7 (11.5)
Add back
Repayment of debt warehoused 3.2 -
Repayment of borrowings 10.3 41.2
Proceeds from borrowings - (17.4)
Payment in kind interest paid - 0.5
Transaction costs capitalised - 0.2
Proceeds on issue of shares - (0.1)
Exceptional items 0.2 1.0
Adjusted free cash flow 14.4 13.9
Calculation of adjusted free cash flow conversion:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Adjusted free cash flow 14.4 13.9
Adjusted EBITDA 21.8 18.4
Adjusted free cash flow conversion % 66% 75%
Reconciliation between adjusted free cash flow and net cash from operating
activities for the year:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Adjusted free cash flow 14.4 13.9
Exceptional items (0.2) (1.0)
Lease liability payments 0.5 0.9
Acquisition/capitalisation of intangible assets 5.5 4.0
Purchases of property, plant and equipment 0.1 0.1
Payment in kind interest paid - (0.5)
Net cash from operating activities 20.3 17.4
Net Cash/(Debt)
Calculation of net cash/(debt):
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Cash and cash equivalents 8.2 7.5
Borrowings - (10.2)
Debt warehoused (6.2) (9.6)
Net cash/(debt) 2.0 (12.3)
Net Average Booking Value ("ABV") and Generated Revenue
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Hostelworld commission share:
Gross revenue 105.0 108.6
Cancellations (13.5) (14.9)
Generated revenue 91.5 93.7
Deferred revenue movement 0.2 (0.7)
Refunds, chargebacks and cost of discounts and vouchers (1.5) (0.1)
Other revenue 0.3 0.3
Advertising income (featured listings) 2.0 1.2
Volume incentive rebates (0.5) (1.1)
Net revenue 92.0 93.3
Calculation of net ABV:
2024 2023
Generated revenue (€'m) 91.5 93.7
Net bookings (#'m) 6.9 6.5
Net ABV generated (€) 13.21 14.36
Direct Marketing Costs as a % of Generated Revenue
Calculation of direct marketing costs as a % of generated revenue:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Direct marketing costs 42.5 46.6
Generated revenue 91.5 93.7
Direct marketing costs as a % of generated revenue 46% 50%
Operating Costs as a % of Generated Revenue
Calculation of other operating costs as a % of generated revenue:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Other operating costs 24.8 25.3
Generated revenue 91.5 93.7
Other operating costs as a % of generated revenue 27% 27%
Other operating costs here exclude paid marketing costs and credit card fees,
and below Adjusted EBTIDA items relating to exceptional items, depreciation,
amortisation and the related R&D tax credit and share option charge.
Net Margin
Calculation of net margin:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Net revenue 92.0 93.3
Direct marketing costs (42.5) (46.6)
Credit card and other processing fees (2.9) (3.0)
Net margin 46.6 43.7
Reconciliation between net margin and operating profit:
2024 2023
€'m €'m
Net margin 46.6 43.7
Other operating costs (35.5) (38.8)
Other income 1.3 -
Share of result of associate 0.1 0.1
Impairment in investment of associate (1.2) -
Operating profit 11.3 5.0
Other operating costs are total operating expenses excluding impairment as set
out within note 4 to the financial statements, less items included in net
margin calculation set out above relating to direct marketing costs and credit
card and other processing fees.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
. END FR EAKDNFSXSEFARecent news on Hostelworld
See all newsREG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Long-Term Strategy to Generate Shareholder Value
AnnouncementREG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Publication of Annual Report and Notice of AGM
AnnouncementREG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Director/PDMR Shareholding
AnnouncementREG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Non-Executive Chair to Step Down
AnnouncementREG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Preliminary results for the year ended 31 Dec 2024
Announcement