Hostelworld counted the cost of disappointing summer bookings, as it saw shares slide after warning that profits will be lower than predicted.
The online hostel booking platform warned investors that earnings for 2019 are expected to be worse than the previous year due to higher costs and the "highly competitive" market.
The firm said that bookings for the peak summer period were "somewhat lower than anticipated", denting its financial performance over the first half of 2019.
Hostelworld saw group revenues for the six months to June slide 8.9 per cent to €38.8 million (£35.5 million).
READ MORE: Tourists snub Scotland 'because of Brexit fears'
Total gross bookings for the period slipped to 3.8 million for the period, from four million over the same period in 2018.
During the half year, adjusted earnings before tax and interest fell by 15% to 8.9 million euros (£8.1 million).
However, the company said that it is has made "good progress" on its "roadmap for growth" strategy plan after investment to improve the experience of users.
Gary Morrison, chief executive officer of the company, said: "The market remains highly competitive and as noted in our annual meeting statement, this continued into the peak summer period.
READ MORE: Harper Macleod takes forward $120m share fight for Fanduel founders
"Coupled with higher-than-anticipated inflation in performance marketing channels, and the financial effect of increased investment in our 'roadmap for growth' during the second half of the year, means that earnings for the full year are likely to be below 2018.
"We continue to operate in an attractive and growing market, and I remain confident about the opportunity to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities we have identified."
Shares in the company fell 8% to 148.8p in early trading.
Shopping centre landlord Hammerson has appointed James Lenton as its new chief financial officer.
Previously at insurer and investment business AIG, Mr Lenton will join the retail property firm on September 16 and take over as CFO on October 1.
READ MORE: Scottish Gas HQ sold to Middle East investors for £26.9m
He succeeds Timon Drakesmith, who will leave on November 15 following a handover period after more than eight years in the role.
Mr Lenton will have a base salary of £430,000.
It was also announced that Hammerson's group investment director, Simon Travis, will take on Mr Drakesmith's other role of managing director for premium outlets.
Online estate agent Yopa has raised £16 million from backers including the venture capital arm of Daily Mail owner DMGT and Savills investment vehicle Grozvenor Hill Ventures.
The company also announced that Grenville Turner, former chief executive of property group Countrywide, has been appointed chairman.
Chief executive Ben Poynter said: "This latest funding round from existing backers is a clear recognition of Yopa's significant growth potential, the fantastic work the team has done to lay strong foundations for that growth, and Yopa's unwavering commitment to customers."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article