Convention Centre Dublin on track for sustained growth

The operator of the Convention Centre in Dublin has said the venue remains on track for strong performances this year and next after more than doubling its profits in 2015.

Newly-published accounts for Spencer Dock Convention Centre Dublin Ltd show an operating profit of €5.04m being generated in 2015; up from one of €2.46m in 2014. Turnover jumped over 18% to €22.73m, last year.

Adjustments for interest and financing costs saw the company post a pre-tax profit of €17.79m for last year, wiping out the previous year’s pre-tax losses of nearly €5.8m; and net debt fell by €46m to €103.4m.

While the name of the company hasn’t changed, it is now owned by the Irish Infrastructure Fund, which bought the original holding company from its liquidators last year.

Convention Centre chief executive Nick Waight said that 2016 is set to build on the strong recovery seen in 2015, which had followed up from “a challenging year” in 2014.

“This year will show a further revenue increase, of around 5%, and the pipeline of business in 2017 also looks good.

“The Convention Centre is not simply a business, but a strategic national asset and we are pleased, therefore, that not only have we increased our profit but we have continued to increase the economic benefits to Ireland,” he said.

A total of 164 events were staged at the venue last year, resulting in 384,000 “delegate days”, tens of thousands of hotel bed nights and substantial spending by visitors.