Online accommodation booking service Hostelworld back on track as bookings increase 21%

Recently floated online accommodation booking service, Hostelworld has said it remains on course to meet full-year financial targets for 2015 and to announce its first dividend as a public company in April, as targeted at the time of its initial public offering late last year.

The Dublin-based company was founded in 1999 by IT entrepreneur Ray Nolan and hostel owner Tom Kennedy and sold to US private equity house, Hellman and Friedman for around €250m a decade later.

It raised over €180m from a dual listing on the Irish and London stock exchanges in November, nearly 12 months after closing the year with a €200m deficit.