easyHotel hails cash balance

easyHotel said that it expected full-year trading to be “substantially behind” expectations, but that the impact of closures was “too soon to estimate”.

The company drew attention to its freehold and leasehold estate and its recently-announced equity fundraising of £11m, which it said put it in a strong cash position.

In line with government advice in their respective countries, both the group's Barcelona and Nice hotels have closed, and following the announcement by the UK government on 23 March, all  owned hotels were now closed until further notice.

The group said that it was taking a number of immediate actions to protect the cash flows within the business, including “careful management” of central costs and the reduction of capital expenditure and all non-essential operating costs as appropriate.

The company was also reviewing the latest guidance from the UK government regarding its support for UK businesses through the current crisis and the group anticipated that its cash flows would benefit from some of these measures, including support to business rates and the Job Retention Scheme.

easyHotel concluded: “We remain in constant and close dialogue with our financial lenders and have amended our group committed facility to strengthen our financial position. The board remains confident in the group's strategy over the longer term. It will continue to monitor the evolving situation closely and will update the market as appropriate.”