Hotel group sees earnings jump 66%

Earnings at the Doyle Collection hotel group climbed 66% to €35.2m last year, with revenues jumping 13.5% to €126.5m.

One of Ireland’s largest hotel groups, the Doyle Collection in March renegotiated its €300m-plus bank loans with AIB in one of the biggest refinancing of corporate debt here for some years.

During the year, the group disposed of three of its US hotels for a combined €149.5m.

The group had bank loans totalling €323m at the end of December and the group’s net debt was due to be repaid next month. They group has now extended this out to 2017 with the State-controlled bank.

Consolidated accounts for holding firm Pembase Holdings Ltd, lodged with the Companies Office, show that revenues at the hotel group last year increased €111.4m to €126.5m.

The Doyle Collection’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation increased from €21.2m to €35.2m.

The group recorded a total profit of €65.48m for the year, which arose mainly from a surplus on revaluation of its hotels of €80.2m.

The Doyle Collection group operates the Westbury and Croke Park hotels in Dublin, the River Lee Hotel in Cork, along with four hotels in the UK and the Dupont Circle hotel in Washington, DC.

The group’s assets at the end of 2012 had a book value of €635.5m.

The hotels the group disposed of this year are: The Back Bay hotel in Boston; The Courtyard by Marriott; and the Normandy Hotel in Washington, DC. Details of the transactions will be included in the 2013 accounts.

The directors state that on the basis of the renegotiated bank terms, they are satisfied that the group has adequate resources to continue to operate for the foreseeable future.

The group’s gross profit last year increased by 16%, from €31.25m to €89.9m, with operating profits increasing almost threefold to €22m.

Bank interest payments totalling €12.4m contributed to the group recording a pre-tax profit of €10.6m. This compared to a pre-tax loss of €2.5m in 2011.

The accounts show that shareholder funds last year totalled €295.2m.

Numbers employed by the Doyle Collection increased from 1,071 to 1,178, with staff costs also rising, from €38.26m to €44.28m.

The group’s cash last year increased from €21.7m to €34.24m.