Apex Hotels earnings leap 51% after a multi-million-pound portfolio upgrade

Profits have soared at Apex Hotels, the Edinburgh-headquartered hotel group, as the business “reaped the rewards” of significant investment across its portfolio.

Guests arrived at the opening of the 35m Apex City of Bath Hotel in a Roman chariot. The hotel has 'performed particularly well' in its first year of trading. Picture: Contributed

The UK-wide group, which operates in five UK cities, reported a 51 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to £11.7 million in the year to 30 April.

Revenues likewise increased, rising 9.5 per cent to £75.4m.

Chief executive officer Angela Vickers attributed the growth to the company’s capital investment programme, which has seen it pump £9m into three hotels throughout the year.

Apex Hotels CEO Angela Vickers hails the benefits of its multi-million-pound refurbishment. Picture: Contributed

Apex also said it would “continue evaluating further expansion plans as opportunities arise”.

At more than 465,500, the number of rooms sold was up 5.5 per cent compared with the previous financial year while RevPAR – revenue per available room, the industry’s preferred financial metric – also increased by 2.4 per cent year-on-year.

'Significant milestone'

Apex revamped its Waterloo Place hotel in Edinburgh, along with its Temple Court and City sites in London, during the 12-month spell and is preparing to unveil the results of a significant refurbishment programme at its City Quay Hotel and Spa in Dundee this year.

The group also hailed a “significant milestone” as its City of Bath location reached its first full-year of trading.

Vickers said: “Over the past year, we have delivered on our capital investment programme to upgrade the portfolio. We invested £3.7m in the Serjeants’ Inn property adjoining Apex Temple Court Hotel allowing us to create a 20-room extension, including five luxury suites, meeting rooms and new wine bar Lazy Ballerinas – the total investment on this project alone totalled £12.5m.

“Finishing touches to bedroom refurbishments also took place at Apex City of London and Apex Waterloo Place in Edinburgh.

“Meanwhile, we are pleased to report Apex City of Bath Hotel – the most recent addition to our portfolio – performed particularly well for conference and events during its first year of trading.”

The group currently operates ten hotels across Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee, London and Bath.