Ten Lifestyle pleased with earnings performance as revenue slides

Technology-focussed concierge platform Ten Lifestyle Group said in an update on Wednesday that it was expecting to report net revenue for the year just ended in line with market expectations at £34.8m, and below the £44.2m it recorded a year ago, due to the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The AIM-traded firm said adjusted EBITDA was expected to be “marginally below” the prior year's £4.8m for the 12 months ended 31 August, despite the lower net revenue, which it put down to improved efficiencies and effective cost management in response to the effects of the pandemic.

It said it ended the financial year with a “healthy” net cash position of £6.6m, ahead of market expectation, and was debt-free.

In the last three months of the financial year, inbound requests from members - a lead indicator of improving demand - had increased across some of the firm’s core categories, such as hotels, dining and live events, to be at or above pre-Covid-19 levels for the same period in 2019.

The group said it continued its investment in technology throughout the year to drive continued improvements in service levels, efficiencies and its competitive advantage.

“We are pleased that our robust business model and the commitment of our team have allowed us to continue to deliver high quality services to our members and corporate clients,” said chief executive officer Alex Cheatle.

“In the past quarter, activity from members has increased across many of our core service categories and supplier revenue, primarily from hotel bookings, has recovered to levels above the same period in 2019, before the global pandemic.”

Cheatle noted that the company increased its EBITDA percentage margin, despite lower net revenue than last year, through cost management and improving efficiencies.

“This positions us well for the anticipated pick-up in travel, dining and live events as Covid-19 restrictions ease across the world.”

At 1158 BST, shares in Ten Lifestyle Group were down 0.47% at 105p.