Business

Hostelworld chairman Michael Cawley to step down after nine years

Hostel-booking group plans to repay remaining €7.5m balance on a AIB loan by end of June, two years ahead of schedule

Michael Cawley is to step down as Hostelworld chairman. File photograph: Eric Luke

Joe Brennan
Thu May 2 2024 - 10:38

Hostelworld chairman Michael Cawley said he will step down in October, after nine years at the helm of the board of the hostel-booking company that targets millennial and Gen-Z backpackers.

The former Ryanair deputy chief executive will be succeeded by Ulrik Bengtsson, who recently stepped down as chief commercial officer at Virgin Media O2 in the UK to focus on “non-executive opportunities”. The Swedish native previously served as chief executive of bookmakers William Hill.

Mr Bengttson has been appointed a non-executive of Hostelworld pending the handover. Mr Cawley, whose other non-executive positions include board seats at Ryanair and chairmanship of data centre developer Winthrop, also said Hostelworld plans to repay the remaining €7.5 million balance on an AIB loan by the end of June, two years ahead of schedule.

“I am pleased to report that trading remains consistent with the trends outlined in our March preliminary results continuing into 2024,” Mr Cawley said in a statement ahead of the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

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“Building on 2023′s strong performance, we are confident we can deliver high single-digit booking and revenue growth, in line with company guidance.”

Hostelworld had borrowed €17.4 million from AIB a year ago to help the company pay back €28.8 million of high-cost loans drawn down from US specialist lender HPS Investments during the Covid-19 pandemic, when international travel plummeted. The company has since focused on repaying the cheaper AIB loans, helped by strong cash generation.

Hostelworld, led by chief executive Gary Morrison, reported in March that it posted earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortisation of €18.4 million for 2023. The result compared to earnings of €1.3 million in 2022 when the travel industry was recovering from the pandemic.

The company also said in March it had agreed to repay €9.6 million of warehoused taxes, racked up during the pandemic, over the next three years. Irish companies that availed of the relief scheme had until Wednesday to either pay the debt in full or engage with Revenue on how to address their liability.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times

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