No room for a dividend at Rezidor Hotel Group

The company - which operates the Radisson family of hotel brands - said that was supported by like-for-like revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth for leased and managed hotels of 4.8%.

Revenue on a reported basis improved 0.6% to €967.3m, while EBITDA increased 3.5% to €82.1m and the EBITDA margin rose 0.2 percentage points to 8.5%.

Adjusted EBITDA was ahead 12.1% at €98.2m.

The silver lining had its grey cloud, however, as profit for the period plummeted 83.3%, however, to €4.4m.

Basic and diluted earnings per share were three euro cents, down from 15 cents last year, although cash flow from operating activities amounted to €72.4m - a significant uptick from €33.9m.

A total of 7,476 rooms were contracted - down from 8,200 a year earlier - with 5,039 rooms opened and 4,195 rooms leaving the system.

The board proposed that no dividend would be paid for the financial year, although the current dividend policy remains.

“We report solid 2017 results, growing like-for-like revenue with €38.3m, supported by a RevPAR growth of 4.8%, driven by the strong performance in Eastern Europe and the good development in the rest of Western Europe and the Nordics,” commented president and CEO Federico González-Tejera.

“The EBITDA margin increased by 0.2 percentage point to 8.5%, despite a number of one off items linked to the five-year operating plan and change of ownership.

“Excluding one off items, the adjusted EBITDA increased by €10.6m to €98.2m.”

González-Tejera said that during 2017, Rezidor had made “significant progress” developing its five-year operating plan.

He described that plan as a “comprehensive strategy” which was aligned with its partner Radisson Hospitality - former Carlson Hotels.

“It has been an intense transition year with numerous activities and significant efforts have been made to analyse our key opportunities and build a solid plan.

“In 2018, we have started to implement the plan and we are making excellent progress towards the goals set, making a major effort in brands and experience implementation, in repositioning our hotels, in revenue management and in information systems,” González-Tejera added.

“The core components of the plan were shared with the investor community at the investor day in January and was very well received.”