Tourism numbers in the UK are obviously influenced by external factors, such as the threat of terrorism and the value of the pound. The former seems to have given way to the latter, judging by Hostelworld's (HSW) half-year figures. Group bookings increased by 11 per cent to 3.9m during the period, with bookings at the flagship Hostelworld brand up by more than a fifth. An increase in underlying price per bed helped to boost the average amount spent per booking by 3.5 per cent. This is despite half of bookings now coming through mobile devices, where bookings tend to be for a shorter duration but more frequent – in other words, more return traffic.
Hostels are making it a priority to be available to customers on the Hostelworld website. The Elevate programme, which allows hostels to pay extra to appear further up a search results page, now accounts for around 32 per cent of bookings, a slight increase from the corresponding period. Spending on marketing as a percentage of net revenue fell to 41 per cent, although the rate is relatively constant as it remains a major component of the commercial model.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profit of €21.8m during 2017, giving an EPS of 20.6¢, compared with €19.7m and 20¢ in 2016.
| HOSTELWORLD (HSW) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 301p | MARKET VALUE: | £288m | |
| TOUCH: | 300-301p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 380p | LOW: 151p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.8% | PE RATIO: | 32 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 151¢* | NET CASH: | €17.7m | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover (€m) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2016 | 40.2 | -5.5 | -4.9 | 4.8 |
| 2017 | 46.6 | 5.2 | 4.6 | 5.1 |
| % change | +16 | - | - | +6 |
| Ex-div: | 31 Aug | |||
| Payment: | 22 Sep | |||
| *Includes €133m of intangible assets, or 139¢ a share £1 = €1.09 | ||||
