REG - Hostelworld Grp PLC - Trading Statement

HostelworldAnnouncement

10/07/2024 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20240710:nRSJ7631Va&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 7631V  Hostelworld Group PLC  10 July 2024

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 revenue(1) 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 costs(2) 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 consensus(3).

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.

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  TSTBIGDRRXGDGSC