Apex eyes further sites after booking ‘strong’ numbers
● Latest accounts reveal increase in sales and profits at Edinburgh hotel operator
Scottish hotel group Apex is eyeing fresh investment and acquisition opportunities after hailing a “strong” fullyear outcome.
The privately owned company, which is gearing up to open its tenth hotel, in Bath, marking its first property in England outside of London, said it had defied “challenging market conditions” over the past 12 months.
Its latest set of accounts reveal an 11.8 per cent rise in underlying profits before tax to £10.3 million on turnover up 7 per cent at £61.3m.
Occupancy rates edged up to 87 per cent from 86.5 per cent but there was a dip in revenue per available room, or Revpar – a key industry measure – to £108.69 from £109.17 the year before.
The Edinburgh-headquartered group reported strong trading across its portfolio, which spans Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.
It said the opening of Apex City in Glasgow towards the end of 2015 and a 30-bedroom extension to Apex City London resulted in room stock rising by 134 rooms. The company also reported a £10m increase in overall valuations, to £336m.
Chief executive Angela Vickers said: “We are proud of our continued growth in recent years, defying challenging market conditions, and 2017 promises to be a very exciting time for us.
“The opening of Apex City of Bath – set to be the historic city’s largest hotel in terms of conference and events spaces and number of bedrooms – will be a key milestone for us this year as our first opening in England outside of London.
“We are also set to develop Customs House on Dundee’s waterfront next to our existing Apex City Quay. We are planning further bedroom expansion at Apex Temple Court in London as well as refurbishment totalling £6m across our City of London, Grassmarket and Dundee hotels.
She added: “In 2017 we will continue to look at other opportunities to extend and complement our existing portfolio.”
The group reported capital investment totalling £16.1m during the last financial year and further developed its 177room Bath establishment, which is set to open this summer.
During the period under review – the 12 months to 30 April – the firm secured a £29m bank facility from Bank of Scotland to help finance the Bath development, together with a 150-year sale and leaseback transaction, generating income of £14m.
Apex Hotels is owned by chairman and founder Norman Springford and his family. The first hotel, in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, opened in 1996 as a three-star establishment with 120 bedrooms. Just two years later it underwent a major refurbishment into a four-star property.
Writing in the accounts, Vickers added: “The group focuses on areas where it has a competitive advantage in the four-star market. Successful new openings have continued to secure this position.”