Good morning. It's my pleasure to present the PPHE Hotel Group's 2024 annual results. The past year has been another dynamic and successful period for the Group, marked by record-breaking revenue and EBITDA. Our strong financial performance, coupled with significant strategic progress, underscores the benefits of our continued investments in our multi-billion hospitality real estate portfolio. Throughout 2024, we maintained our momentum by rebuilding occupancy, increasing revenue, and effectively navigating cost pressures. Our recently opened hotels across European capitals have continued to mature, strengthening our position across key markets. As a result, we achieved robust top-line growth, with revenue benefiting from these recent openings, while our established portfolio delivered a solid like-for-like performance. We also sustained EBITDA margin expansion, driven by a strategic focus on efficiencies, increased occupancy, and the adoption of new technologies.
This success was achieved despite a strong prior-year comparative, which included the King's Coronation in 2023, as well as external headwinds such as currency fluctuations and a challenging macroeconomic environment. The Board remains committed to delivering value to shareholders, with total dividends for 2024 increasing year-on-year. Additionally, we completed two share buyback programs, reinforcing our dedication to enhancing shareholder returns. 2024 was a milestone year for our expansion strategy, as we launched several high-profile hotels across four European capitals, bringing us into the final phase of our current development pipeline. These new openings are a testament to our multi-brand and diversification strategy, including art'otel London Hoxton, our new flagship hotel in the heart of London, art'otel Zagreb, making our expansion into Croatia's vibrant capital, and our first two Radisson RED hotels in Berlin and Belgrade, strengthening our presence in these key European cities.
These properties have been exceptionally well received, with strong guest feedback and promising early performances. Looking ahead, our newest five-star property, art'otel Rome Piazza Sallustio, is set to open in March 2025, cementing our presence in Italy's capital. With our current investment cycle nearing completion, the Group remains on track to deliver at least GBP 25 million of incremental EBITDA once these new hotels reach stabilized trading levels. The progress we have achieved in 2024 is a direct reflection of the dedication and hard work of our teams. We were pleased to see a continued rise in employee engagement, with our survey results showing an increase of 1.5 percentage points to 84.5%. Our commitment to exceptional guest experiences remains unwavering, as reflected in our Guest Rating Score of 87.8, an increase of 1.4 percentage points year-on-year. These results reinforce the positive impact our teams are making across all our properties.
As we continue to evolve into a truly pan-European multi-brand hospitality real estate Group, we remain focused on unlocking long-term growth opportunities. With the maturing of our recently opened hotels and a longer-term pipeline of future developments, we are well positioned to deliver sustained value for our shareholders, team members, and guests. We remain confident in our ability to create lasting value for our stakeholders and look forward to another year of progress and success.