Trading Statement

Hostelworld Group PLC

15 January 2026

 

LEI:213800OC94PF2D675H41

Hostelworld Group plc ("Hostelworld" or the "Group")

Full Year Trading Update for Year Ended 31 December 2025

Improved momentum in H2; Adjusted EBITDA in line with consensus;
Delivering on strategic milestones.

Hostelworld is pleased to provide an update on trading for the period 01 January 2025 to 31 December 2025.

Key highlights:

Positive Financial Momentum in H2 2025:

·      Revenue Growth: H2 Generated Revenue¹ increased by 7% year-on-year (YoY), driven by a 2% increase in bookings and a 5% rise in Average Booking Value (ABV).

·      Commission Optimisation: The effective commission rate increased to 16.7% in H2 2025 (H2 2024: 15.4%), supported by the continued rollout of 'Elevate', our marketplace monetisation tool launched in May 2025.

·      Marketing Efficiency: Direct marketing costs as a percentage of revenue¹ totalled 45% in H2, down from 48% in H2 2024.

Delivery of our Growth Roadmap: The Group has delivered against the 2025 milestones outlined at our April 2025 Capital Markets Day (CMD):

·      Strategic Acquisition: In October 2025, the Group acquired OccasionGenius, a US-based B2B events discovery platform, for USD $12.0 million. The acquisition marks an important evolution of the Group's social travel platform, enabling integrated event discovery with its existing social and accommodation offering.

·      Social Network Monetisation: Launched "Social Passes" in November 2025, providing travellers with time-bound paid access to our social network. This represents an important step in monetising social engagement and broadening the Group's addressable market.

·      Inventory Expansion: Launched budget accommodation options in December 2025. Currently available to English language iOS App users across 50 destinations, with broader rollout across platforms and languages planned for 2026.

Full Year 2025 Summary and Outlook:

·      Net Revenue² grew 2% to €93.8m, driven by 7.0m net bookings (+1% YoY) and a 2% increase in ABV to €13.43.

·      Full year adjusted EBITDA is expected to be €19.9m, in line with market consensus³. This represents a margin of approximately 21% (2024: 24%).

·      Closing cash position of €12.2m and net debt of €1.6m. The Group continues to execute its £5m share buy-back programme, with £3.9m worth of shares purchased to 31 December 2025.

·      An interim dividend of 0.82€ cent per share was paid on 19 September 2025.     

Management remains confident that the additional capabilities delivered during 2025 - including social monetisation, budget accommodation, and the OccasionGenius integration - will strengthen the platform and support long-term value creation.

1.         Generated revenue is gross revenue less cancellations and excludes impact of deferred revenue.

2.         Net revenue is gross revenue less cancellations, deferred revenue, rebates and accounting adjustments.

3.         Company compiled market consensus FY 2025 adjusted EBITDA is €19.9M as of 15 January 2026.

4.         A social member is a customer who has accepted social terms and conditions and has opted into the social features.

5.         A booking made by a customer who became a social member prior to the booking checkout date.

Gary Morrison, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Our performance in the second half of the year reflects the disciplined execution of the strategic roadmap we outlined at our Capital Markets Day in April 2025. Following a softer start to the year, trends improved in H2, with revenue growth strengthening and improved marketing efficiency. This progress reflects our investment in marketplace monetisation, led by the rollout of Elevate supporting higher effective commission rates in the second half, and our continued investment in the platform throughout the year, which saw member⁴ messaging grow 81% year-on-year and social bookings⁵ increase to 86% of our total, up from 82% in 2024.

During the year, the Group delivered a number of important milestones that further strengthened our platform, competitive position and long-term growth potential. The acquisition of OccasionGenius in late October added global event discovery capabilities, extending our social travel offering by integrating event discovery into our existing network and accommodation services. In addition, the launch of 'Social Passes' in November introduced a new monetisation mechanism and expanded our addressable market, while the initial rollout of budget accommodation options provides increased choice to users, with further expansion planned for 2026.

While the full financial contribution from these new features will build over time, they represent meaningful platform enhancements, strengthening our network effects and providing a stronger foundation for future growth. The Group enters 2026 with a resilient balance sheet and an expanded set of capabilities, and I remain confident in our ability to deliver sustainable, long-term value for our shareholders."

For further information please contact:

Hostelworld Group plc                                                      [e-mail]

Gary Morrison, Chief Executive Officer

Caroline Sherry, Chief Financial Officer

David Brady, Head of Commercial Finance

Sodali & Co                                                          [e-mail]

Eavan Gannon / Oliver Banks                           Tel: [phone]

About Hostelworld Group

Hostelworld Group PLC is a ground‐breaking social network powered Online Travel Agent ("OTA") focused on the hostelling category, with a clear mission to help travellers find people to hang out with. Our mission statement is founded on the insight that most travellers go hostelling to meet other people, which we facilitate through a series of social features on our platform that connect our travellers in hostels and cities based on their booking data. The strategy has been extraordinarily successful, generating significant word of mouth recommendations from our customers and strong endorsements from our hostel partners.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Ireland, Hostelworld is a well‐known trusted brand with almost 270 employees, hostel partners in over 180 countries, and a long‐standing commitment to building a better world. To that end, our focus over the last few years has been on improving the sustainability of the hostelling industry. In particular, over the last two years we have commissioned independent research to validate the category's sustainability credentials and recently introduced a hostel specific sustainability framework which encourages our hostel partners to move to even more sustainable operations and also provides the data points for our customers to make more informed decisions about where they stay. In addition, our customers are now able to offset their trip's carbon emissions should they wish to do so, and we have maintained our 'Taking Climate Action' label awarded by South Pole.

Disclaimer

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to the future prospects, developments and business strategies of Hostelworld. Forward-looking statements are identified by the use of such terms as "believe", "could", "envisage", "estimate", "potential", "intend", "may", "plan", "will" or variations or similar expressions, or the negative thereof. Any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by those statements. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if underlying assumptions prove incorrect, Hostelworld's actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Any forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this announcement. Except as required by law, Hostelworld undertakes no obligation to publicly release any update or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement to reflect any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based after the time they are made.

 

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