LEI:213800OC94PF2D675H41

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

Interim Results 2026

H1 2026 double-digit revenue and margin growth, FY 2026 guidance reiterated

Hostelworld is pleased to announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2026 ("H1 2026"). 

Key highlights

Accelerating revenue and improved marketing efficiency

• Revenue acceleration: Net revenue¹ of €52.2m (+12% YoY), with net average transaction value of €14.9 (+11% YoY) and net transactions² of 3.8m (+1% YoY). Approximately 3% negative impact to volume due to the conflict in the Middle East.
• Marketplace monetisation: Effective commission rate increased to 17.7% in H1 2026 (H1 2025: 15.8%; H2 2025: 16.7%), demonstrating the continued demand for Elevate, our marketplace monetisation tool.
• Improved marketing efficiency: Direct marketing costs as a percentage of revenue³ totalled 49% in H1 2026, down from 51% in H1 2025, supporting a net margin growth to €22.9m (+16% YoY).
• Strong EBITDA returns: H1 2026 adj. EBITDA €8.2m (+11% YoY), adj. EBITDA margin 16% (flat YoY).

 From a single-product Online Travel Agent ("OTA") to a compounding, multi-stream social platform

• A structurally larger market: three revenue streams today - core hostel commission, budget accommodation and Social Passes Ð where a year ago there was only one.
• New engines adding customers at low cost: budget accommodation, Social Passes and Events are bringing in new customers at low-to-zero marketing cost and are accretive to the core hostel business.
• Our growth and margin engine: social members now lead on transactions, revenue and margin, and are our most efficient source of growth - so growing this base lifts both the pace and the profitability of growth.
• Investing behind our long-term growth drivers: attracting more social members, deepening engagement through AI-powered matching and discovery, and scaling budget accommodation and Social Passes - keeping us on track to deliver our targets as outlined in April 2025 Capital Markets Day (CMD).

Financial highlights

• Generated revenue³ of €56.1m (+13% YoY) with 3.8m net transactions² (+1% YoY) and a net average transaction value of €14.9 (+11% YoY).
• Net margin of €22.9m (+16% YoY), a combination of double-digit revenue growth and improved marketing efficiency.
• Operating costs⁴ totalled €14.7m, 28% of revenue (H1 2025: 27%), due to increased investment in development resources as outlined at our CMD.
• Adjusted EBITDA of €8.2m with deferred revenue of €3.2m (H1 2025 Adj. EBITDA of €7.4m, deferred revenue of €3.1m)
• Adjusted profit after tax of €4.9m (H1 2025: €5.1m)
• Adjusted EPS of 3.95 cent, -2% year on year (H1 2025: 4.02 cent).

Disciplined capital allocation

• 30 June 2026 cash balance of €15.0m (31 December 2025: €12.2m) and a net cash position of €2.5m (31 December 2025: net debt position of €1.6m).
• Interim Dividend of 0.83 € cent per share (2025: Interim Dividend of 0.82 € cent per share) approved by the Board, payable on 18 September 2026.
• £5m share buyback programme concluded on 1 April 2026, with a total of 4.1m shares repurchased and cancelled, representing 3.2% of issued share capital.

Gary Morrison, Chief Executive Officer, commented:  

"Hostelworld delivered strong revenue growth in the first half of 2026. Net revenue rose 12% year-on-year to €52.2m, and adjusted EBITDA rose 11% to €8.2m. Growth was led by Elevate, our marketplace monetisation tool, which lifted our effective commission rate to 17.7%, up from 15.8% a year earlier and 16.7% in the second half of 2025. Direct marketing improved to 49% of generated revenue, from 51% in H1 2025. Transaction volumes rose 1%. We estimate that the conflict in the Middle East, which we flagged at our full-year results, held volume growth back by around three percentage points, principally in longer-haul demand into Asia and Oceania. Demand across our core European and North American markets was more resilient and more profitable.

These are the results of a business building for growth. Where a year ago we had a single revenue engine, we now have three: our core hostel business, budget accommodation and Social Passes. Together they give us a materially larger addressable market and a proprietary social network that compounds in value as it grows. Engagement continues to accelerate, with in-app chat messages sent up 65% year-on-year. Our cohort analysis shows that, on a like-for-like basis, social members transact more frequently and at a materially higher margin than non-members. The social base is now the primary driver of our transactions, revenue and margin, and we have significant scope to deepen that engagement further.

Our proprietary dataset, spanning more than 4 million social members, 19 million+ messages and 19 million+ bookings, positions us well for the shift towards AI-powered travel discovery. As discovery becomes more conversational, travellers increasingly want to know who is there, what is happening, and whether a destination is right for them. The data to answer these questions, and the tools to connect traveller while they are in-trip, is uniquely ours. And as the network grows, that data becomes richer, our matching and recommendations improve, and our advantage compounds over time.

Having completed our multi-year platform modernisation programme at the end of 2025, we invested through the first half of 2026, to build on that foundation, focusing on our growth drivers. Reflecting our confidence in the business and our disciplined approach to capital allocation, the Board has approved paying an interim dividend in the second half. I look forward to setting out our progress and priorities in more detail at our half-year results presentation. We remain confident in delivering the low-double-digit revenue growth targets set out at our CMD."

Trading update

Net revenue for the first half rose 12% year-on-year to €52.2m, and revenue per transaction rose 11% to €14.9. This was driven primarily by Elevate, our marketplace monetisation tool. Elevate lifted our effective commission rate to 17.7% in H1 2026, from 15.8% in H1 2025 and 16.7% in H2 2025. It gives hostel partners greater flexibility to capture the value they place on our high-intent, predominantly international customer base. This has more than offset the impact of a weaker US dollar.

Net transactions grew 1% year-on-year to 3.8 million. We estimate that the conflict in the Middle East held volume growth back by approximately three percentage points across the first half. We had flagged this at our full-year results, and its impact intensified through the second quarter, concentrated in longer-haul demand to Asia and Oceania. Demand in our core European and North American markets was more resilient.

Direct marketing improved to 49% of generated revenue, from 51% in H1 2025. Together with revenue growth, this lifted net margin to €22.9m, a growth of 16%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 11% to €8.2m, with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 16%. Engagement in our social network continued to build, with in-app chat messages sent up 65% year-on-year.

We continued to make good progress on our growth strategy. Budget accommodation, launched in December 2025 through a third-party inventory supplier, continues to expand across iOS, Android and mobile web, and into additional languages. Following our acquisition of OccasionGenius Inc., event discovery is now live across the platform, with deeper integration into our social network on track in the third quarter. In addition, Social Passes are broadening our addressable market. The Group maintains a robust balance sheet and net cash position.

Outlook

The Board remains confident in the Group's differentiated growth strategy, and in delivering the low-double-digit revenue growth targets set out at our 2025 Capital Markets Day. Our full-year guidance currently assumes that the disruption from the conflict in the Middle East eases through the second half and that broader trading conditions stabilise. It also assumes a growing contribution from our growth initiatives as the year progresses. On that basis, we reiterate our full-year guidance, in line with market expectations.

¹ Net revenue is gross revenue less cancellations, deferred revenue, rebates and accounting adjustments.

² Net transactions includes bookings paid via directly contracted inventory, third-party contracted inventory and Social Pass purchases.

³ Generated revenue is gross revenue less cancellations and excludes impact of deferred revenue.

⁴ Operating costs exclude paid marketing costs and credit card fees, and below adjusted EBITDA items relating to exceptional items, depreciation, amortisation and share option charges.

Analyst Presentation

A presentation will be made to analysts today at 9.00am, a copy of which will be available on our Group website: http://www.hostelworldgroup.com.

If you would like to dial into the presentation, please join directly via the webcast link provided below.

Webcast link: https://brrmedia.news/HSW_HY26

For further information please contact:  

Hostelworld Group plc                                           [email protected]  

Gary Morrison, Chief Executive Officer 

Caroline Sherry, Chief Financial Officer 

David Brady, Head of Commercial Finance  

Sodali & Co                                                             [email protected]  

Eavan Gannon                                                         +44 (0) 20 7250 1446 

About Hostelworld

Hostelworld Group plc is a ground-breaking social network-powered Online Travel Agent ("OTA") with a clear mission to help travellers find people to hang out with. Our mission is founded on the insight that most travellers go hostelling to meet other people. Our platform connects travellers through a range of social features Ñ including city and hostel chat rooms, AI-powered recommendations, and event discovery - facilitating real-world interactions before, during and after their trips.

 Hostelworld's vision is to be the world's leading social travel platform. Since launching its social network in 2022, the Group has welcomed over 4.0 million social members, with engagement growing faster than stays booked. Social members book approximately twice as frequently as non-members and are three times more likely to use the app, demonstrating the platform's utility and its contribution to customer lifetime value.

 Our proprietary dataset, spanning over 4.0 million social members, 19.0 million+ chat messages and 19.0 million+ bookings since launch, strengthens our ability to understand traveller behaviour, personalise experiences, and build network effects that differentiate Hostelworld from generalist OTAs. This data asset, which is exclusively ours and compounds in value as our community grows, underpins our AI‐powered matching and recommendation capabilities.

 Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Ireland, Hostelworld is a recognised brand with around 275 employees, with hostel and accommodation partners across more than 180 countries, and a growing suite of products including budget accommodation and Social Passes that extend the platform well beyond the traditional hostelling category.

 Hostelworld has a long-standing commitment to improving the sustainability of the hostelling industry. The Group has introduced a hostel-specific Staircase to Sustainability framework, accredited by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, which helps partners adopt more sustainable practices while giving travellers clearer information for decision-making. Customers can choose to offset trip emissions, and for the fifth consecutive year the Group has retained the ÒTaking Climate Action" label from 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.

Cautionary statement

This interim management report has been prepared for the Group as a whole and therefore gives greater emphasis to those matters which are significant to Hostelworld Group plc and its subsidiary undertakings when viewed as a whole.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW: GARY MORRISON

Throughout the first half of 2026 we continued to execute the differentiated growth strategy we set out at our Capital Markets Day, in service of our Vision to be the world's leading social travel platform. It was a period of building for growth. We delivered accelerating revenue, improved marketing efficiency and continued to build out the three revenue engines that now power the business. Where a year ago there was a single engine, we now have three: our core hostel offering, budget hotel accommodation and Social Passes. Reported volume growth of 1% understates the underlying trajectory. The conflict in the Middle East was a sector-wide drag that, we estimate, reduced our volume growth by around three percentage points in the half.  

Executing our growth strategy

Our social network remains the cornerstone of our strategy, and it continues to accelerate. In the first half, unique social members grew 7% year-on-year, and unique chat users grew 26%. In-app chat messages sent grew 65%, and messages per user grew 30%. This deeper engagement is the leading indicator of a higher-value customer base.

That value is increasingly visible in our economics. We track fixed acquisition cohorts, each followed for a full year, which strips out acquisition-mix effects and isolates the value the network creates. On this like-for-like basis, a newly acquired social member¹ transacts more frequently than a non-member and generates materially more revenue and direct margin. The social base has now overtaken the non-social base on transactions, on revenue and on direct margin, even as the non-social base declines. Our priority is therefore simple: grow the social base, and especially its engaged core. Volume, revenue and margin then compound behind it.

Elevate, our marketplace monetisation tool, continued to perform strongly. It lifted our effective commission rate to 17.7% in the first half, from 15.8% a year earlier. Elevate gives hostel partners a more granular way to reflect the value they place on our high-intent, predominantly international customer base. This has more than offset the impact of a weaker US dollar. Direct marketing also improved, to 49% of generated revenue from 51% a year earlier.

We continued to expand the addressable market beyond our core. Budget accommodation, launched in December 2025 through a third-party inventory supplier, extends our offer into stays where hostel options are limited. It now spans some 18,000 destinations and is rolling out across iOS, Android and mobile web, and into additional languages. This inventory is bringing customers new to Hostelworld, and it is not cannibalising our core: it converts primarily where hostels are unavailable, and customers who book it join our social network in the same way as our core guests. Social Passes provide time-bound paid access to the social network without a booking. They are broadening the top of our funnel and recruiting members who go on to book accommodation with us. Following our acquisition of OccasionGenius Inc., event discovery is now live across the platform. Deeper integration of its structured, global catalogue of events into the social network is on track for early in the third quarter.

We also continued to grow and support our supply. Improvements to hostel onboarding, together with our local marketsÕ teams, sustained healthy property activations. Our partner engagement programme, including our regional conferences, continues to deepen relationships with the hostels at the heart of our marketplace.

Well positioned for AI-powered discovery

Travel discovery is becoming more conversational, and we believe this shift plays to our strengths. Travellers increasingly want to know not just where to stay, but who is there, what is happening and whether a destination is right for them. The dataset we have built answers those questions, and it is uniquely ours: more than 4 million social members, 19 million+ messages and 19 million+ bookings. During the first half we put in place the enabling layer for AI-powered discovery. We improved the way our content is surfaced to AI systems and advanced the recommendation models that power social matching, while the deeper and most valuable social layer remains available only within our app. In the second half our focus moves from readiness to measurement. We will bring personalised recommendations into the mobile experience and begin to quantify AI-referred demand. As our network grows, the data it generates becomes richer, our matching improves, and it attracts more members. This compounding dynamic positions Hostelworld to benefit as AI-powered discovery scales.

Investing in our platform

We completed our multi-year platform modernisation programme at the end of 2025. We now operate a flexible, cloud-native architecture that scales on demand and provides the foundation for our AI capabilities. With that investment cycle complete, our focus in 2026 is targeted investment behind the drivers where our cohort economics show the strongest returns. These include activating more social members to use the network, extending our marketing from lower-funnel search into more targeted upper- and mid-funnel awareness, and embedding AI across the business. Internal adoption of AI is now mainstream, with the great majority of our teams using AI tools in their day-to-day work. They are supported by a proprietary analytics layer that gives them natural-language access to customer economics, and that increasingly informs product and marketing decisions. Because we operate an asset-light model, these efficiency gains flow through to profitability.

Board Changes

Following the period end, Karen Myers and Wais Shaifta have been appointed to the Board as independent Non-Executive Directors, with effect from 24 July 2026. Karen will succeed Paul Duffy as Chair of the Remuneration Committee and has been appointed to the Audit and Nominations Committees. Wais will succeed Carl G. Shepard as Senior Independent Directors and has been appointed to the Audit, Nomination and Renumeration Committees. Paul Duffy has assumed the role of Chair of the Audit Committee. We extend a warm welcome to Karen and Wais and look forward to benefiting from their experience and insight as we continue to execute our strategy and deliver on our long-term growth ambitions. On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank Carl G. Shepherd and ƒimear Moloney for their valued contributions during their tenure and wish them every success in the future.

Progressing our ESG agenda

We remain committed to improving the sustainability of the hostelling category. Our Staircase to Sustainability framework, developed with the Global Sustainable Tourism Council, continues to see strong adoption among our partners, and gives travellers clearer information to make more responsible choices. We remain the only OTA on the GSTC working group for micro and small enterprises. For the fifth consecutive year we retained the 'Taking Climate Action' label from South Pole, and customers can continue to offset the emissions associated with their trips. Building a culture where our people thrive remains central to how we operate as a remote-first organisation. Our continued focus on inclusion is reflected in strong employee engagement and retention.

Summary

The first half of 2026 was a period of building for growth. We delivered accelerating revenue and improved marketing efficiency, expanded our addressable market across three revenue engines, and continued to grow a proprietary social network that becomes more valuable as it scales. The social base is now our growth and margin engine. Our priority is to grow that base, and especially its engaged core. I would like to thank our employees for their commitment and our shareholders for their continued support. We remain confident in delivering the growth trajectory we set out at our Capital Markets Day.

Gary Morrison

Chief Executive

28 July 2026

¹ Social Member is defined as newly acquired customer who signs up to the social network before the expiry of the chat window on their first trip, equal to their booking check out date + one day

FINANCIAL REVIEW: CAROLINE SHERRY, CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

*The Group uses Alternative Performance Measures (ÒAPMsÓ) which are non-IFRS measures to monitor the performance of its operations and of the Group as a whole. APM definitions and rationale are provided in Appendix 1.

Revenue and operating profit

Net transactions increased by 1% to 3.8 million (H1 2025: 3.7 million). The Group estimates that booking volumes were impacted by an estimated 3% due to travel disruption arising from the conflict in the Middle East, with Asia and Oceania experiencing the most pronounced regional impacts.

Net ATV grew by 11% to €14.91, primarily driven by the continued adoption of Elevate, which increased the GroupÕs effective commission rate to 17.7% (H1 2025: 15.8%).

Group revenue increased 12% to €52.2 million (H1 2025: €46.7 million), reflecting:

•      Continued growth in the Group's core Online Travel Agent business;
•      The first full half-year contribution from OccasionGenius Inc., acquired in October 2025; and
•      Initial revenue contribution from the Group's Third-Party Inventory ("3PI") and Social Passes initiatives.

Total operating expenses increased to €50.8 million (H1 2025: €44.6 million), comprising administration expenses of €45.5 million (H1 2025: €40.0 million) and depreciation and amortisation of €5.3 million (H1 2025: €4.6 million). The increase in depreciation and amortisation reflects the amortisation of intangible assets recognised on acquisition of OccasionGenius Inc., with intangible assets of Û9.4m recognised on acquisition of OccasionGenius Inc. in 2025 and increased development costs amortisation.

The €5.5m increase in administration expenses was driven by three main factors:

•      An additional €2.3 million of marketing investment to support revenue growth. Direct marketing costs improving to 49% of generated revenue (H1 2025: 51%), demonstrating greater marketing efficiency;
•      A €1.0 million increase in net staff costs, driven by targeted headcount expansion and salary inflation; and
•      €0.7 million of exceptional items (detailed below) and continued investment in the GroupÕs platform and product capabilities following the OccasionGenius Inc. acquisition.

Operating profit for the period was €1.4 million (H1 2025: €2.1 million). Adjusted EBITDA increased 11% to €8.2 million (H1 2025: €7.4 million), with the Adjusted EBITDA margin maintained at 16%, demonstrating the Group's operating leverage and ability to deliver revenue growth, funding strategic growth initiatives from cash generation.

Exceptional items

Exceptional items are disclosed separately where their size or nature is considered material and relevant to an understanding of the Group's underlying performance.

During the period, the Group recognised exceptional items of €0.7 million (H1 2025: €0.3 million), primarily comprising of integration costs relating to the OccasionGenius Inc. acquisition, which completed in Q4 2025. The prior period exceptional charge of €0.3 million related to transaction professional fees. Excluding exceptional items, operating profit was €2.1 million (H1 2025: €2.4 million) and profit attributable to equity holders was €1.2 million (H1 2025: Û1.4 million).

Share-based payment

The equity-settled share-based payment expense for the period was €1.0m (H1 2025: €0.8m), relating to awards granted under the GroupÕs Restricted Share Unit (ÒRSUÓ) and Long-Term Incentive Plan (ÒLTIPÓ) arrangements. All LTIP and RSU awards are granted as nil-cost options.

During H1 2026, 0.7 million ordinary shares were issued to satisfy the vesting of RSU awards (H1 2025: 2.3 million ordinary shares).

Current and deferred tax

The current tax charge for the period was €0.2 million (H1 2025: €0.2 million), relating primarily to taxable profits generated in overseas jurisdictions where the Group's historic Irish tax losses and allowances are not available for offset.

The deferred tax charge was €0.5 million (H1 2025: €0.9 million), primarily reflecting the utilisation of deferred tax assets as capital allowances, tax losses and interest relief recognised against taxable profits.

The total tax charge for the period was €0.7 million (H1 2025: €1.1 million).

Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share for the period was 0.43 euro cents (H1 2025: 0.88 euro cents), based on a weighted average of 123.4 million ordinary shares in issue (H1 2025: 125.7 million). Diluted earnings per share was 0.41 euro cents (H1 2025: 0.85 euro cents), based on a diluted weighted average of 129.9 million ordinary shares (H1 2025: 130.2 million).

Adjusted earnings per share, based on Adjusted Profit After Tax of Û4.9 million (H1 2025: Û5.1 million), was 3.95 euro cents (H1 2025: 4.02 euro cents).

Net debt and financing

The Group transitioned to a net cash position of €2.5 million as of 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: net debt of €1.6 million). Cash and cash equivalents totalled €15.0 million as of 30 June 2026 (31 December 2025: €12.2 million).

In October 2025, the Group entered into a €10.3 million three-year term loan facility with Allied Irish Banks, plc to fund the acquisition of OccasionGenius Inc., bearing interest at EURIBOR plus 2.0%. As of 30 June 2026 an outstanding balance of €10.3 million remained (€9.0 million non-current; €1.3 million current), with scheduled principal repayments having commenced in July 2026.

The Group remained in full compliance with its financial covenants throughout the period, with both covenants tested on a rolling twelve-month basis:

á      Cashflow Cover: defined as the ratio of Cashflow to Debt Service for the relevant period. The ratio must be at least 1.2 : 1. At 30 June 2026, the Group's Cashflow Cover ratio was 3.3 : 1.

á      Adjusted Leverage: defined as the ratio of Net Debt as at the last day of the relevant period to Adjusted EBITDA for that period. This ratio must not exceed 3.0:1. As at 30 June 2026 the Group was in a net cash position; the adjusted leverage was less than 0.0 : 1 and in full compliance with the Group's financing covenants.

Warehoused payroll taxes reduced to €2.2 million (31 December 2025: €3.5 million). The remaining balance is interest-free and will be repaid in full by April 2027.

Capitalised development costs

Hostelworld continues to invest in our proprietary social platform and product offering. Capitalised development additions to intangible assets during the period were €4.6 million (H1 2025: €3.6 million), comprising €3.2 million of internal development labour (H1 2025: €2.6 million) and €1.4 million of external development costs (H1 2025: €1.0 million). These investments primarily support the scaling of our social platform and integration of third-party inventory to expand the Group's accommodation offering in low-hostel density destinations.

Investor relations

The Group maintains proactive and regular dialogue with the investment community. Our full year results presentation was held on 26 March 2026, followed by our Annual General Meeting on 6 May 2026, which provided shareholders with the opportunity to submit questions to the Board in advance, with full details published on the Company's website. We issued a H1 2026 trading update on 9 July 2026, providing shareholders with an additional point of engagement between our full year and interim results.

During the period, the management team participated in a number of shareholder roadshows and investor conferences, providing opportunities to engage directly with existing and prospective investors and analysts. Feedback from these engagements continues to inform the Group's approach to investor communications, ensuring these remain clear, balanced and effective.

Principal risks and uncertainties

A review of the Group's principal risks was performed during H1 2026. No new or emerging principal risks were identified; however, the risk profile of five principal risks (as defined in Appendix 2) increased during the period, driven primarily by the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence and heightened geopolitical uncertainty.

Artificial Intelligence is a standalone principal risk, reflecting its growing strategic importance and pervasive impact across the Group's risk landscape. It also contributed to an increased assessment of the Group's Cyber Security and Competition principal risks.

Heightened geopolitical uncertainty resulted in increased assessments for the Group's Macroeconomic Conditions and Impact of Uncontrollable Events principal risks, reflecting continued inflationary pressures, foreign exchange volatility and the potential for geopolitical events to disrupt travel demand.

The Group's remaining principal risks are unchanged from those set out in the 2025 Annual Report. Further details of the principal risks and the actions taken to mitigate them are set out in Appendix 2.

Share buyback

The Group operated a share buyback programme from June 2025 to April 2026. As at 30 June 2026, a cumulative 4,085,827 ordinary shares had been repurchased under the programme (31 December 2025: 3,061,809) at a total cost of Û5.8 million (31 December 2025: Û4.5 million).

Dividend

In accordance with the Group's dividend policy, which targets a 20%Ð40% Adjusted Profit After Tax payout ratio, on 25 March 2026 the Board recommended a final dividend of 1.58 euro cents per ordinary share in respect of the year ended 31 December 2025. The dividend was approved by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting on 6 May 2026 and, totalling Û2.0 million, was paid on 12 May 2026.Subsequent to the reporting period, the Board approved an interim dividend of 0.83 euro cents per ordinary share in respect of the six months ended 30 June 2026 (H1 2025: 0.82 euro cents per ordinary share), amounting to a total distribution of Û1.0 million. The dividend will be paid on 18 September 2026 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 28 August 2026. The shares will trade ex-dividend from 27 August 2026.

Caroline Sherry

Chief Financial Officer

28 July 2026

RESPONSIBILITY STATEMENT

Each of the Directors of Hostelworld Group plc, whose names and functions are listed on the GroupÕs website (www.hostelworldgroup.com), confirm that, to the best of each personÕs knowledge and belief:

1.     The condensed set of Group financial statements has been prepared in accordance with UK-adopted International Accounting Standard 34 ÒInterim Financial ReportingÓ;

2.     The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R (indication of important events during the first six months, their impact on the condensed Group interim financial statements, and description of principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year); and

3.     The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R (disclosure of related partiesÕ transactions and changes therein).

By order of the Board

Gary Morrison                                                                        Caroline Sherry

Chief Executive Officer                                                           Chief Financial Officer           

28 July 2026                                                                            28 July 2026