Marston’s reports sound progress: Brewer and retailer Marston’s has released a year-end trading update for the 52 weeks to 4 October in which it has reported “sound progress” and forecast “underlying operating profit broadly in line with expectations”. The company stated: “In Destination and Premium, like-for-like sales were 3.1% ahead of the previous year including food like-for-like sales growth of 3.3% and like-for-like wet sales growth of 2.0%. Operating margin is ahead of the previous year and we completed 27 new pub-restaurants in the financial year, creating 1,350 jobs and including our 100th new-build opening since 2009. We expect to continue to develop our Destination estate at a similar rate of growth for the foreseeable future and have a good pipeline with at least 25 sites planned for completion in the 2015 financial year. In Taverns, like-for-like sales were 2.1% ahead of the previous year. Our franchise business, which now operates in around 540 sites, continues to perform strongly. In Leased, like-for-like profits are estimated to be up 3% against the comparative year. In Brewing, own brand beer volumes were in line with last year, with strong performances in premium ales and the off-trade, where we continue to lead the market.” Chief executive Ralph Findlay said: “We have made steady progress by consistently implementing our returns-focused strategy including an accelerated new-build programme, and in meeting our targets for disposals and conversions to franchise. We remain on track to complete the majority of this disposal and conversion activity by the end of financial year 2015, creating a pub estate appropriate to meet the needs of our customers in the long-term.”

Easyhotel reports 84% occupancy at latest site in Glasgow: Easyhotel, the operator and franchisor of super-budget hotels, has reported trading for the year ended 30 September 2014 was in line with management’s expectations in both its owned and franchised hotels. The company stated: “The year has seen a number of milestones achieved by the company, including the opening of its Glasgow easyHotel (125 bedrooms) in January 2014, the refurbishment of the Old Street London easyHotel (162 bedrooms) and most recently the £24.5 million capital raising in conjunction with the admission to trading on AIM of company’s shares in June 2014. Management is pleased with the performance of the group’s Glasgow hotel which has already reached high levels of occupancy, achieving 84% occupancy in the three months to the end of September 2014. The group’s third owned hotel, the 103-bedroom Croydon easyHotel, is on track to open on budget in November 2014, with prices starting at a competitive £19 per room per night. The group is in the process of expediting ways to improve profitability further for both its owned and franchised hotels, which in particular will involve a new multi-lingual website, making it easier for overseas visitors to book and simplifying the booking process on mobile devices. Since the company’s shares were admitted to trading on AIM in June 2014, and in line with its strategy, management has considered a number of potential site acquisitions. To date few of the sites or opportunities under review have met the group’s strict acquisition criteria. There is a steady supply of new opportunities and management is confident of delivering against their stated owned hotel roll-out strategy. During the period, the board also explored a potential corporate transaction in considerable detail. The board has decided not to proceed with this transaction, and the group will incur professional costs of approximately £230,000 in relation to the transaction which will be reported as one-off costs. Our core strategy is to be an owner-operator in both the UK and mainland Europe. Our franchise strategy is to focus outside Europe, but a number of franchise commitments will continue to open in Europe in the next six months. The company is pleased to announce that the franchised 132-bedoom Frankfurt easyHotel will open on 1 December 2014, with the hotel already open for bookings. The franchised Prague easyHotel is under construction and is scheduled to open in Spring 2015.” Chief executive Simon Champion said: “We are pleased with the trading performance over the past few months. We believe that there are a number of opportunities to improve owned and franchised revenues which we will be implemented in the coming months, and we will continue to maintain our tight cost discipline. We remain excited about the growth potential of our strong brand, driven by our unique international customer base and the increasing number of business customers looking for a value hotel proposition.”