August 2010

Hotelscene Post Higher Profits Despite Difficult Trading Conditions

Despite a challenging trading environment, Hotelscene announces audited annual results for the year ending March 2010 that post a trading EBITDA up 34% to £1.9m. This has been achieved on the back of a targeted cost reduction programme that delivered savings of 20% over the year.

Revenues were only 11% down at £5.2m driven by lower demand for the meetings and conference side of the business with transient activity increasing during the period. Despite the recession, the inevitable downturn in volumes from some key clients was offset by new business gains and a strong performance from our public sector clients.

During the past year, Hotelscene successfully launched its new self booking tool, MyStay, and already there has been a significant uptake. On average, 82% of all bookings are transacted online which is thought to be the highest adoption rate within the TMC or hotel booking agency community. All major clients were retained during the year including a top 5 client who was acquired during the reporting period by a well-known worldwide technology company.  

Since the end of the year, growth has returned with first quarter revenues showing a year-on-year increase of 20%. Further new business wins in Quarter 1 will underpin this growth.

Nick Temple, Chairman, commented: “These are very good results given the state of the global economy during 2009. The business has made significant technological advancements and the focus on improving efficiencies has hugely improved our competitiveness.” 

Nick Foot, Managing Director, said: “With the introduction of MyStay we have re-established ourselves as having the best online booking system and our desire to capitalise on our technical know-how continues with new applications next year.”