Travelodge reports £40m rise in profits ahead of rumoured sale
Profits rose by almost £40m year-on-year to £261m for the six months ended 1 July.
RevPar was up 15.2 per cent to £35.87, average room rate rose 11.4 per cent to £48.19 and occupancy rose 2.4 per cent to 74.4 per cent.
Now Travelodge’s owners Goldman Sachs, GoldenTree Asset Management and Avenue Capital are reportedly preparing to put the hotel chain on the market after appointing Deutsche Bank to advise them on a rumoured £1bn sale.
The group acquired the hotel chain following its near collapse in 2012, returning the company to profit in September 2013.
Peter Gowers, Travelodge chief executive, said: “Our shareholders are not natural long term holders of a hotel business and they are working with Deutsche Bank to explore their options for the future.
“While that takes place we continue to focus on driving the business forward and building on the great momentum seen in our performance so far this year.”
Travelodge has undergone a £100m modernisation programme in the last two years, refurbishing 92 per cent of all UK rooms.
Gowers said that five hotels had opened in the first half of 2015, with a further 45 expected to launch in the next 24 months.
“We have already exchanged contracts for more new rooms in the first half of 2015 than we did in the whole of 2014,” he commented.
“Britain continues to be a nation of value seekers and the value hotel market continues to be the fastest growing part of the UK hotel industry. Travelodge is well positioned and we expect our strong trading momentum to continue into the second half of the year.”
The company, which recently celebrated its thirtieth year in business, employs 10,000 people at 521 hotels across the UK and Spain.
