Like the three that preceded it, the final quarter of 2019 started with a year-over-year fall in profits per available room in the UK, according to data from HotStats. The 5.3% YOY drop in GOPPAR in October was only surpassed by the 9.4% plunge recorded in April, and marks the seventh month in the year to record a YOY contraction in profits.

A small 0.1% YOY uptick in average room rate was not enough to offset the effects of declining occupancy, which dropped by 2.2 percentage points YOY. As a result, RevPAR fell by 2.3% compared to the same month last year—the biggest cutback for this metric in 2019.

Led by a decrease in F&B revenue per available room (down 0.7% YOY), non-rooms revenue also took a hit in October, recording a 1.0% YOY fall. With declines across all major revenue centres, total revenue per available room dropped by 1.9% YOY.

The inability of UK hoteliers to control costs intensified the negative effects of a shrinking top-line. Labour costs increased by 2.2% YOY on a per-available-room basis, while ovearheads grew by 0.2%. This contributed to widening the profit gap between 2019 and 2018, with YTD 2019 profit per available room lagging 0.8% behind YTD 2018.

Profit conversion in the UK was recorded at 39.8% of total revenue.

Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Total UK (in GBP)

Source: HotStats LimitedSource: HotStats Limited
Source: HotStats Limited

Cardiff is a happy exception to the overall negative results in the UK, and the 9.0% YOY increase in GOPPAR achieved in October marks the third consecutive month of profit growth in the city.

This profitability boost was driven by a strong top-line. Fueled by YOY growth in occupancy (up 1.5 percentage points) and average rate (up 5.0%), RevPAR achieved a 5.0% increase compared to the same month of last year. F&B revenue per available room also exhibited a positive trend, climbing by 2.0% YOY. This resulted in a 3.1% YOY growth in total revenue per available room.

Even with increasing occupancy, hoteliers in Cardiff managed to control labour costs, which recorded no change compared to October of 2018 on a per-available-room basis. Overhead costs increased slightly year-over-year, by 0.4%. Despite these favourable results, YTD 2019 GOPPAR in Cardiff is still 0.5% below the YTD 2018 results.

Profit conversion in Cardiff was recorded at 31.1% of total revenue.

Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Cardiff (in GBP)

Source: HotStats LimitedSource: HotStats Limited
Source: HotStats Limited

With a 6.3% YOY decline in GOPPAR, October broke the seven-month streak of profit per available room growth in Edinburgh. Still, the positive results achieved in the previous months place the city's YTD 2019 GOPPAR 4.2% above the same period of last year.

RevPAR suffered a 2.2% drop compared to October 2018, pulled by a 0.2 YOY percentage point fall in occupancy and a 1.9% YOY decrease in average rate. Conversely, F&B revenue per available room grew by 8.0% on a YOY basis, driving total revenue per available room up by 0.4% YOY.

This uptick in total revenue was not strong enough to counter the growth in expenses. The 4.3% YOY soar of labour costs per available room and the 3.2% YOY increase in overheads ended up eroding profitability for hoteliers in the city.

Profit conversion in Edinburgh was recorded at 36.5% of total revenue.

Profit & Loss Performance Indicators - Edinburgh (in GBP)

Source: HotStats LimitedSource: HotStats Limited
Source: HotStats Limited

About HotStats

HotStats provides monthly P&L benchmarking and market insight for the global hotel industry, collecting monthly detailed financial data from more than 8,500 hotels worldwide and over 100 different brands and independent hotels. HotStats provides more than 550 different KPIs covering all operating revenues, payroll, expenses, cost of sales and departmental and total hotel profitability.

Kathryn Potter
KCP Media
+1 703 980 0602
HotStats Limited