Fota Island resort posts drop in profits as staff costs double 

Resort's financial results come just two weeks after director, Yuzhu Kang, won his long-running High Court battle for the ownership of the business

RN Fota Island Resort is holding a recruitment open evening on Thursday next, from 4 to 7pm.

Cork's luxury Fota Island Resort posted a 25% increase in turnover last year, with the directors for the Hong Kong-owned estate attributing its rise in demand to the lifting of covid restrictions. 

Fota Island resort operator, Xiu Lan Hotels, saw turnover increase to €21.4m in the year, up from €17.1m in the previous 18-month period. 

However, a surge in costs saw the hotel operator post a modest profit in the year, with staff wages and salaries, including directors' pay, almost doubling from €5.1m to €9.8m. 

The resort posted an operating profit of €912,085 in the year, down significantly from €2.09m in the previous trading period. The firm's pre-tax profit fell by more than 60%, down from a previous €1.76m. 

Pay to the directors declined slightly to €191,875 in 2023, down from €212,838.

The firm saw its property value depreciate in the year, posting a non-cash loss of €144,990 just one year after benefitting from a gain of €6.04m in the re-evaluation of its property. 

Shareholder funds increased slightly in the period, rising to €13.9m from a previous €13.5m.

The resort's food and beverage revenues increased from €5.2m to €7.6m in 2023, while its earnings from hotel rooms rose from €4.2m to €5.9m in the same period. Meanwhile, its golf income fell slightly in the period from €3m to €2.8m.

Speaking on the resort's future developments, the directors said the company planned "to pursue new business so as to strengthen the company’s trading position."

The firm's financial results come just two weeks after one of the directors of Fota Island Resort, Yuzhu Kang, won his long-running High Court battle for the ownership of the business. 

Mr Kang had sued fellow directors of Fota Island Resort, Chinese businesswoman, Xiu Xiang Kelly and her son Tuo Du.

The settlement now effectively means that Mr Kang is the owner of the Fota Island Resort and the Kingsley Hotel in Cork City as well as three other properties which were in dispute.

In 2013, the Kang family purchased the five-star resort for a reported €20m and quickly followed that purchase by snapping up the Kingsley Hotel in Cork for €6m.

Speaking to the  Irish Examiner earlier this month, The Chinese businessman said he intends to "realise my dream for Fota," which he had when he first bought the resort in 2013.

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