EasyHotel announces multi-lingual site following positive trading update

A new multi-lingual website is to be introduced by easyHotel to make it easier for overseas visitors to book its budget properties.

A new multi-lingual website is to be introduced by easyHotel to make it easier for overseas visitors to book its budget properties.

The site will also simplify the booking process on mobile devices, according to the company.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou’s budget hotel chain, which raised £24.5 million for expansion through a listing on the secondary AIM market in June, reported trading for the year to September as being in line with management expectations.

In a trading update this morning, the company said it had considered a number of potential site acquisitions.

But it admitted that “few of the sites or opportunities under review have met the group’s strict acquisition criteria”.

EasyHotel added: “There is a steady supply of new opportunities and management is confident of delivering against their stated owned hotel roll-out strategy.”

The group will incur professional costs of approximately £230,000 in relation to an unspecified potential corporate transaction which did not take place.

“Our core strategy is to be an owner-operator in both the UK and mainland Europe,” the company said.

“Our franchise strategy is to focus outside Europe, but a number of franchise commitments will continue to open in Europe in the next six months.”

A franchised 132-room hotel will open in Frankfurt on December 1 to be followed by another in Prague to open next spring.

A 103-room property is due to open in Croydon next month as the group’s third owned hotel. Rooms will cost from £19 a night.

Chief executive Simon Champion said: “We are pleased with the trading performance over the past few months.

“We believe that there are a number of opportunities to improve owned and franchised revenues which we will be implemented in the coming months, and we will continue to maintain our tight cost discipline.

“We remain excited about the growth potential of our strong brand, driven by our unique international customer base and the increasing number of business customers looking for a value hotel proposition.”

Full year results for the year to September 30 are due to be published on December 9.