Snoozebox tipped to post maiden profit

A TEMPORARY hotel operator that has charged more than £550 for some of its rooms will deliver its maiden interim results this week, with investors looking to see how it fared during the Edinburgh festivals.

Snoozebox, which joined the Alternative Investment Market in May, uses converted shipping containers that can be transported around the country and further afield to provide accommodation at events such as music festivals and races.

Last month it set up a 120-room venue to cater for the Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival, with prices starting from £80 a night.

In July, it held an investor event to coincide with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Simon French, an analyst at house broker Panmure Gordon, said the 240 rooms on offer were sold out at an average rate of more than £550 for the three-day meeting, with around half the guests coming from overseas.

First-half results are due on Wednesday, and French is forecasting full-year earnings before interest, tax and other items of £3.8 million, on revenues of around £10.5m. He said: “It is the ability to locate a Snoozebox hotel so close to an event that supports the group’s premium, yet competitive, pricing model.”

Snoozebox is the brainchild of chief executive Robert Breare, who co-founded Malmaison with Glaswegian ­hotel entrepreneur Ken McCulloch before selling it on to US investors as part of the Arcadian hotel chain for £100m. He also served as chairman of the firm that owned Edinburgh’s Scotsman Hotel.