Pre-tax profits more than double at Mespil Hotel

Pre-tax profits at the four-star Mespil Hotel in Dublin more than doubled to €2.39m last year, according to newly filed accounts.

A large contributor to the sharp rise in profit at the 254-bedroom hotel was the directors securing an exceptional gain of €1m arising from a bank loan discount upon the early repayment of loans and refinancing of debt with Bank of Ireland.

According to the directors’ report section of the accounts for Mespil Hotel Ltd, “trading for the year was satisfactory with an increase in operating profit of 20%”.

“The outlook for the Dublin hotel market continues to be buoyant,” the report said.

“Since the year end, the company has carried out a substantial upgrade to a third of its rooms and will have completed upgrading the remaining rooms and ground floor areas by May 2016.”

The directors believe “this will significantly enhance profitability”.

The accounts show the firm’s bank loans reduced last year from €8.89m to €6.976m.

The figures show that before the exceptional gain of €1m is taken into account operating profits increased by 20% going from €1.19m to €1.43m.

The firm is controlled by the Kidney family with Lee, Denis and John Kidney accompanied on the board by Martin Holohan.

Directors’ remuneration, including pension payments, last year fell from €602,347 to €583,361.

The Kidney family own the Lee Hotel group and profits at its other hotel, the four star Sligo Park Hotel business last year decreased by 64% from €190,273 to €66,786.