Dublin hotel sees profits jump by 52%
New accounts show the hotel also paid a dividend of €5m to its parent firm, the Sligo Park Hotel Ltd.
The two hotels are part of Lee Hotels and abridged figures for Mespil Hotel Ltd show that gross profit at the firm that operates the 255-bedroomed hotel increased by 9% from €4.7m to €5.1m.
According to the directors’ report the outcome reflected a recovery in trading conditions during the year, although the operating environment remains extremely challenging.
The note adds: “The directors are satisfied with the performance of the company and expect trading to continue to improve in the coming year.”
The figures show that even after the dividend payout, the firm had accumulated profits of €15.3m at the end of September last.
The directors are listed as Lee Kidney, Denis Kidney, John Kidney and Martin Holohan and aggregate remuneration for directors dipped from €189,375 to €183,710.
The filings show that the firm’s operating profit last year increased by 42% from €712,734 to €1m, while net interest payments totalling €189,846 reduced the firm’s profits.
The directors state that the risks facing the hotel in Dublin 4 “continue to be both the weak domestic economy and the significant decline in overseas visitors to Dublin over the past three years”.
No one was available from the hotel yesterday to comment.
Separate accounts lodged by the group’s four-star Sligo Park Hotel show that the firm’s pre-tax profits increased by more than 17-fold from €85,889 to €1.5m in the 12 months to the end of September last.
However, this is largely due to €6.3m in investment income from subsidiary firms.
The figures show that the 136-bedroom hotel’s profits were hit by a €4.7m impairment on fixed assets last year.
The abridged filings show that the firm’s gross profit reduced by 7% from €4.1m to €3.8m last year.
In the directors’ report, it states: “Trading for the year was satisfactory given the competitive local environment in which the company operates, coupled with the continued severe downturn in the Irish economy.”
The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €153,377.
The figures show that the firm’s accumulated profits last year stood at €2.8m.
