Occupancy at PPHE hotels closing on 2019 levels thanks to London events

PPHE Hotel Group has said a strong London events calendar has driven occupancy rates close to 2019 levels, while revenue for the six months ended 30 June 2023 is up 16% compared to the same pre-pandemic period.

In interim results for the first six months of 2023 it reported that total revenue was up 59% year on year at £180m.

It said that the revenue growth was led by an average room rate of £160, up 13% on 2022, and revpar, which at £110 was well above the pre-pandemic figure of £93. Meanwhile, occupancy for the first half of the year was 69%, compared with 48.0% in H1 2022.

In an upbeat report PPHE said that staffing was also less of a concern due to its investment in people and automation. It added that utility cost hedging had successfully mitigated significant increases.

Boris Ivesha, president and chief executive officer, PPHE Hotel Group said: "We are very pleased to report a strong performance for the Group across our main markets, with record revenues following significant increases on last year and the pre-pandemic period. This momentum has continued into the second half, giving us confidence in our full-year outlook and longer-term growth.

He added: "We are now entering a very exciting time for the Group, with our £300+ million pipeline nearing completion. New property openings are afoot in the next nine months, in Belgrade, Zagreb, Rome and London Hoxton and, upon stabilisation of trading, these new hotels are targeted to generate at least £25m of EBITDA for the group.

"We are encouraged by the strong trading seen over the summer period and are thankful to our teams for delivering such exemplary results and providing our guests with great hospitality across all our destinations."

PPHE opened art'otel London Battersea in February, with a second art'otel due to open in London's Hoxton in early 2024.

The group expects to deliver full year 2023 revenue of at least £400m and EBITDA of at least £120m.