Hotel predicts successful 2012 after 13-fold rise in profits
Profits at the hotel on the outskirts of Cork City increased 13-fold in 2010 to €535,930.
Figures returned by Windsor Surprise Ltd show the hotel recorded the profit after the company recorded a tax credit of €762,724 in the 12 months to the end of Dec 2010. Revenues declined by 8.5% from €9.7m to €8.8m. Bank interest charges of €679,739 contributed to the company recording a pre-tax loss of €226,794 after recording a pre-tax profit of €40,319 in 2009.
According to a note attached to the accounts, earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for 2010 was €1.1m compared to €1.4m in 2009. The company “is meeting its repayment obligations under its present banking facilities which were renewed in May 2010 on a rolling basis until Dec 2013”, the note states.
It adds: “The directors have prepared financial projections for the years to 31/12/2013 which demonstrates continued positive trading.”
The firm’s accumulated profits at the end of 2010 stood at €9.8m. Numbers employed decreased from 222 to 186. Staff costs decreased from €4.2m to €3.7m. Bank loans at the end of 2010 stood at €20.7m.
The company spokesman said the hotel recorded “a satisfactory performance based on the trend in the hotel industry as a whole during 2010 of decreasing sales volumes”. He said the business did not return to record pre-tax profits last year and did not increase revenues.
“Business levels continued to be challenging, but 2012 is showing signs of growth particularly in the accommodation sector. A big push on the conference sector has meant that 2012 will be a very successful year with a number of both international and national conferences booked into the hotel.
“Accommodation continues to grow from the lows of 2009, whilst wedding business has increased every year on year, since 2009. Costs continued to be monitored, but the hotel is convinced that you can cannot cut your way out of a recession.
“All hotels have made all adjustments necessary in the cutting of expenditure over the last few years,” he said.
