Scandic Anticipates Higher Hotel Prices

The hotel chain Scandic is signaling higher hotel prices in the coming months.

In its second-quarter interim report, the company provides a forecast for the third quarter. A better booking situation than at the same time last year is making an impact, according to CEO Jens Mathiesen:

"We therefore expect slightly higher occupancy and prices compared to the previous year. Despite the geopolitical uncertainty, we currently see no noticeable impact on our operations," he writes in the interim report.

For the second quarter, which spans from April 1 to June 30, there was a slightly lower operating profit than the same period last year.

In addition to the fact that Easter was late this year, which according to Scandic affected business travel, there was also a "Taylor Swift effect."

"The growth rate was dampened by tough comparison figures from the previous year, when major events like Taylor Swift in Stockholm and Eurovision in Malmö contributed to particularly high demand," writes the CEO.

The operating profit now landed at 816 million SEK for the second quarter this year. During the corresponding quarter a year earlier, the company made an operating profit of 927 million SEK.

Net revenues during the period amounted to 5.8 billion SEK, a decrease of 1.3 percent compared to the same period last year. It was also slightly lower than the market's expectations of 5.88 billion SEK.

The hotel chain has recently received a lot of media attention after announcing that it will not include breakfast in the room price, and guests will need to add breakfast separately if desired.