Soho House: Waiting list at private members club and short seller target hits another record

Soho House, the exclusive private members club, reported a loss of $57m (£44m) in the fourth quarter but said its wait list is now at another all-time high.

On a per share basis, the publicly listed firm said it had a loss of $0.29 cent (£0.23). Net debt widened to £638m (£500m), up from £531m (£417m). 

The haunt, which counts English royals Harry and Meghan as members, said adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) reached $36.6m (£28.7m), up $13.4m (£10m) from fourth quarter 2022. 

Soho House Members grew to 193,865 from 184,542 in the third quarter of 2023, and 19.7 per cent year-over-year. 

The waitlist for the club, which charges upwards of £1,000 per year, is also at an all-time sitting at approximately 99,000. 

The leisure and networking club, which originated in London, also opened a range of new Soho Houses this year, including in Mexico City and Portland. 

Andrew Carnie, chief of Soho House and  Co, said: “The strong results we delivered in 2023 demonstrate our continued focus on driving a better member experience and significant progress on improving profitability. 

“We grew Soho House membership approximately 20 per cent , including the benefit of maturing Houses and entering into South East Asia and Latin America for the first time. 

“We more than doubled Adjusted EBITDA, reflecting 11 per cent  margins up from six per cent  in 2022.”

The update comes a few weeks after short seller Glasshouse Research launched a stinging report that claimed the firm was heading the way of collapsed property-cum-tech firm Wework.

Soho House said it “fundamentally rejects the allegations” in the report, which were designed to “adversely impact the company’s stock price for the benefit of the short-seller.”

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