Latest news with #budgethotel
Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Times
Is it worth buying Whitbread shares right now?
It is only a matter of time before Whitbread changes its name to Premier Inn. Ever since it started the Travel Inn chain in 1987, augmented by Premier Lodge in 2004, hotels have gradually been elbowing other activities — brewing, coffee shops, pubs — out of the nest. It has reached the point where food and beverage revenues and profits are no longer broken out in the annual report's segmental analysis. Instead, the two named divisions are Premier Inn UK & Ireland, and Germany. The restaurants, under the names Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and others, are either being sold or turned into Premier Inn rooms. One or two particularly profitable outposts may linger, but even they will soon surely not be worth the management time to monitor them. So the group is changing before our eyes, and is heading towards becoming a UK and Europe-wide budget hotel chain. Much hard work has gone into adapting the Premier Inn formula for Germany since the first one opened in Frankfurt nine years ago. That will inspire a rollout to other countries. A toe has already been dipped in the water in Austria, and for some years there has been a Middle East joint venture with Emirates Group. The German experience will provide a natural platform for expanding to Scandinavia and other northern European territories. Dominic Paul, the chief executive, told The Times last month: 'We are proving Premier Inn can grow and that, once the right model is in place, we can grow quite quickly. We're getting to a point where the German business is learning from the UK business and the UK is learning from Germany.' It is still a work in progress, and the transition was well illustrated by the results for the year to the end of February. Total revenue and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation actually edged down a touch, to £2.9 billion in the UK and £1 billion in Germany. UK business revenues fell 3 per cent to £2.7 billion, while revenues in Germany rose £41 million or 21 per cent to £231 million. UK adjusted pretax profit fell from £588 million to £507 million thanks to cost inflation and lower interest income. But cost savings in Germany cut the loss there from £36 million to £11 million, so it is going in the right direction and in 2025 profits should begin to flow. Paul seems to have imbibed the Peter Drucker idea of management by objectives. The latest Whitbread annual report is replete with targets, led by the three-pronged strategy to grow and innovate in the UK; focus on strengths to grow in Germany; and enhance capabilities to support long-term growth. There is, of course, a five-year plan, to recycle at least £1 billion of its most mature property, to generate at least £300 million of incremental profit, distribute more than £2 billion in share buy-backs and dividends, and expand the estate from 86,000 to 98,000 rooms, all by 2030. Some rooms will be converted from existing attached restaurants, and 5,000 are earmarked for Germany. As the group is deep into hospitality, it has been held back by sluggish economic growth in Germany and the UK, and the effects of last October's UK budget, which increased national insurance contributions and the minimum wage. That was reflected in the share price, which tumbled from £33 to £23. Since April, however, it has climbed nearly all the way back up, reaching £32 on the back of the general stock market recovery and the prospect of falling interest rates. The planned £250 million share buyback did no harm, either. Last month's first-quarter figures sent the analysts back to their spreadsheets, as total revenue and revenue per available room both fell by 2 per cent. The UK outside London was the laggard, while Germany steamed ahead by 16 per cent. None of that phased Paul, who preferred to point to the five-year plan. 'In the UK, we continue to outperform against a challenging market backdrop,' he said. Clearly the real returns are not going to break through until the economic background improves. Peel Hunt rates the shares a buy, saying: 'Whitbread continues to create value: room openings are accelerating, skewed to higher-priced London, business market penetration is growing and independent competitors are struggling.' They see earnings per share bursting from 193.4p to 234.3p by February 2028, for a prospective 13.2 price-earnings ratio and a 3.8 per cent dividend. ADVICE HoldWHY A sound long-term expansion prospect at the end of the road
Hospitality Net
28-05-2025
- Business
- Hospitality Net
Travelodge to Open New Hotel as Part of Watford Riverwell Regeneration Scheme
Travelodge, the UK's first budget hotel brand, which operates over 600 hotels across the UK, Ireland and Spain, has exchanged contracts to develop a new 131-bedroom hotel in Watford. This latest addition will be the group's second hotel in the town and forms part of Watford Riverwell, a major, £500 million regeneration scheme (set up in 2013) being delivered through a joint venture between Kier Property and Watford Borough Council. The 70-acre development in West Watford is the largest regeneration project in the area, transforming former industrial land into a vibrant new district featuring residential, commercial, retail, leisure and healthcare facilities. Travelodge will play a key role in delivering new infrastructure to support the town's future growth, while also boosting local employment and economic activity. The hotel chain has entered a 30-year lease with Kier Property to operate the hotel once it is developed. The group's second hotel in Watford is in a prime location for both business and leisure travellers, located very close to Watford General Hospital and Vicarage Road Stadium, home of Watford Football Club and a host venue for a variety of events. Other nearby attractions include the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studios and Wembley Stadium, just a short train journey away. The hotel benefits from excellent transport connections, thanks to a new link road, and is under a ten-minute drive from Junction 5 of the M1. It is also within one mile of Watford's High Street, Watford Junction, Bushey and Watford Met stations. The new four-storey hotel will feature Travelodge's new, premium look and feel design, which includes a freshly-designed reception area, next-generation rooms and its new, stylish restaurant concept, 85 Bar Cafe - offering everything a business or leisure guest needs for a comfortable and relaxing stay. At ground level, the building will also include two additional retail and leisure units and benefit from 78 dedicated parking spaces within a designated section of the adjacent, recently opened multi-storey car park. Freeths advised Travelodge on the transaction and Kier Property was represented by Pinsent Mason. Hotel website
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
Where to stay while visiting Milan's Chinatown
B&B Hotel Milano – Cenisio Garibaldi B&B Hotel Milano Cenisio Garibaldi is an ideal option for those on a budget. Photo: B&B Hotels While the dining scene in Milan's Chinatown offers plenty of choice, the situation for travellers looking for somewhere to stay in the neighbourhood is different. The best of the limited options is a cheap and cheerful room in this ultra-modern budget hotel, a short walk from Via Paolo Sarpi. Rooms are available from €70 (US$79) a night. Rosa Grand Milano Rosa Grand Milano has a prime location if you're planning to visit key attractions. Photo: Starhotels A four-star hotel located in the heart of the Fashion District, overlooking Piazza Fontana and just a short walk from the Duomo and the Teatro alla Scala, the modern Rosa Grand's main selling points are its location and city views. Rooms start from €470 (US$532). Portrait Milano
Skift
06-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
Tristan Capital to Buy EasyHotel in Bet on Budget Travel
The sale of EasyHotel underscores how hard it was for the brand's founder to replicate his success with airlines in the hotel world. It also reveals one real estate investor's faith in budget hotel investments in Europe. EasyGroup, the company behind Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou's 'easy' family of brands, has agreed to sell budget hotel chain EasyHotel to real estate investment management company Tristan Capital Partners. Tristan is taking over EasyHotel's outstanding share capital for €196.13 million (about $222 million). When added to its prior stake, the transaction values the brand at around €242 million ($274 million). Last August, Skift reported that EasyHotel was "exploring various strategic options, including a possible sale. Speculation had placed the potential valuation as high as $500 million, significantly higher than the ultimate deal value. The deal still represents growth from 2019 when EasyHotel chose to delist from London's AIM exchange. At that time, investment firms ICAMAP and Ivanhoé Cambridge (the real estate division of CDPQ) acquired a majority stake in a deal that valued the company at about $170 million. They took the company private in 2020. The Tristan deal also includes the 17% stake held by EasyHotel founder Haji-Ioannou and his family, who are fully relinquishing their ownership. Haji-Ioannou founded EasyHotel in 2004. While EasyHotel didn't grow as comparably large as the airline EasyJet did, Haji-Ioannou may still see a long-term gain from the brand. His EasyGroup will continue to license the brand to the company in exchange for "a reasonable royalty." A Bet on Budget Hotels Tristan Capital Partners, a London-based real estate investment management company with over €15 billion in assets under management, has been expanding its hospitality portfolio in recent years, particularly in the budget hotel segment. In April 2022, Tristan acquired a majority stake in Point A Hotels for around £420 million ($560 million), with plans to double its portfolio across the UK and Ireland. The firm also provided a €165 million (about $187 million) senior financing package to the Paris-based Centaurus Group in April 2024 to support its 43-hotel portfolio. In October 2021, it acquired a 261-key hotel in Manchester, UK, that was rebranded as Yotel. Future Growth? Today, EasyHotel operates approximately 50 hotels with 4,900 rooms across 13 European countries, including the UK, Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands. The portfolio comprises 32 owned and leased hotels and 17 franchised properties. New hotels are set to open in Spain in 2025 and 2026, including properties in Alicante, Madrid, and Barcelona, which will complement existing locations in Barcelona and Málaga. Inside EasyHotel's Turnaround: CEO Strives to Double Hotel Count by 2026 With a turnaround artist at its helm, EasyHotel is finally poised for its long-awaited expansion. Recent investment in the company is a wager that affordability will matter more to some travelers than whether a hotel is Instagram-ready. Read More What am I looking at? The performance of hotels and short-term rental sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets, including international and regional hotel brands, hotel REITs, hotel management companies, alternative accommodations, and timeshares. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more hotels and short-term rental financial sector performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
