Dalata first half revenues jump 31% sending earnings forecast up to €8m

A better-than-expected first half performance has led the Dalata Hotel Group to forecast full-year earnings of €7.5m to €8m for 2014.

The company — which owns the Maldron chain of three and four-star hotels — yesterday reported a 31% annualised increase in first-half revenues to €34.9m, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rising from €900,000 to €2.4m.

Group chief executive Pat McCann said the performance was “much stronger than anticipated” and that while the second half of the year will always yield stronger profits than the first, the gap is narrowing, with the first six months now accounting for roughly 30% of Dalata’s profitability.