Occupancy, ADR and Revenue Continued to Grow at Minor Hotels Europe & Americas in Q1 2024

Madrid, 19 April 2024: At today’s Annual General Meeting, Minor Hotels Europe & Americas announced continued strong results for the first quarter of 2024, seeing increases in occupancy, average daily rate (ADR) and revenue. First quarter revenue totalled €460 million, representing a growth of 13% versus Q1 2023. Also at the AGM, shareholders agreed to change the company’s registered name from NH Hotel Group S.A. to Minor Hotels Europe & Americas S.A..

The name change is a business decision that will allow the company to be recognised by its various stakeholders under a single corporate name globally. In 2018, Minor Hotels brought its eight hotel brands under the corporate umbrella brand. Going forward, the company will operate under a single name, generating multiple synergies, with Minor Hotels Europe & Americas driving the growth and development of the brands within these markets. NH Hotels & Resorts, NH Collection Hotels & Resorts and nhow Hotels & Resorts will each retain their brand trademarks and identities.

At the AGM, which took place in Madrid this morning, Chief Executive Officer, Ramón Aragonés, updated attendees on the company’s performance between January and March 2024, when occupancy increased by two percentage points to 62%; the ADR climbed six euros, from €115 to €121; and revenue registered quarterly growth of 13%, from €407 million to €460 million.

The CEO also looked back on the group’s earnings performance in 2023, a year in which it outperformed all of its metrics from 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Revenue last year amounted to €2.16 billion, up 23% from 2022 and 26% above the 2019 figure.

EBITDA totalled €327 million in 2023, compared to €294 million in 2019 and €250 million in 2022. Net profit came in at €128 million, growth of €28 million from 2022 and €38 million above 2019.

Mr. Aragones attributed the record revenue and profits posted in 2023 primarily to “continuous optimisation of the hotel portfolio, cost control, growth of 13% in average revenue per occupied room to €138 and a seven-point increase in occupancy, to 68%”.

The CEO also stressed how the company had reduced its gross borrowings by €129 million in 2023 to end the year at €480 million. At 31 December 2020, that figure stood at just over one billion, which means that the group has slashed its debt by more than half in three years.

At year-end 2023, the group’s net debt stood at €264 million, compared to €308 million at year-end 2022 and €685 million at the end of 2020. That deleveraging has been fuelled by strong cash generation. The volume of cash generated last year also made it possible to undertake €113 million of capital expenditure and invest €123 million to acquire Minor Hotels’ assets in Portugal.

In April 2024, Fitch upgraded to ‘BB-‘ from ‘B’ the Corporate Rating of NH Hotel Group with stable outlook reflecting the performance reported in 2023, strong deleveraging and cash flow generation. The rating action also takes into account the business recovery momentum and the improvement in the consolidated credit profile of Minor International.

Ramón Aragonés advised that the company plans to continue growth across all segments, with a focus on its high-end brands. Of the new openings the global company is targeting by the end of 2026, more than 50 hotels are targeted to be in Europe, with further properties also to be added in the Americas. These new openings will include additions to the Anantara, Tivoli and NH Collection brands, under a mix of management agreements and flexible leases, both fixed and variable.

During 2023, several Minor Hotels Europe & Americas’ properties won prestigious international awards in the sector, such as Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice or TripAdvisor’s Traveler’s Choice. At a corporate level, the company has been named amongst the 100 best companies to work for in Spain according to Forbes and the only Spanish hotel company in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year.

Ramón Aragonés, CEO Minor Hotels Europe & Americas, commented, “Despite being in a period of rising inflation and costs, record revenues and profit have been achieved in 2023. The strength in operational management, improvement of our hotel portfolio, cost control, pricing strategy and the ability to anticipate and lead the recovery of each segment, have placed us in an optimal position for 2024, when we are continuing to focus on expanding our global footprint, driving sustainable growth, and creating long-term value for our shareholders.”

The company’s shareholders also ratified the separate and consolidated financial statements and management reports for 2023, the group’s non-financial statement, the appropriation of profit to the legal reserve and retained earnings from previous fiscal years and discharged the directors’ performance during the year.

The proprietary directors, Stephen Andrew Chojnacki, William Ellwood Heinecke and Emmanuel Jude Dillipraj Rajakarier, and the executive director, Rufino Pérez Fernández, were re-elected for the statutory term of three years. The appointments of Míriam González-Amézqueta, Tomás López Fernebrand and María Segimón de Manzanos as independent directors were also ratified.