Galway’s Meyrick Hotel flagship doubles profits

The flagship hotel in the Gerry Barrett-led Edward Holdings group more than doubled its profits to €582,792 in 2015.

Accounts recently filed for the Galway-based MT Mono Trading Ltd that operates the Meyrick Hotel in Galway show profits increased 143% in the year.

Staff numbers at the Meyrick increased slightly to 122, with staff costs totalling €2.39m.

The firm also operates the nearby G Hotel and is unlimited and not required to file annual accounts but a source close to the Edwards Holdings Group said yesterday the G Hotel is “making substantial profits”.

“Business is good, occupancy is good and rates are good,” said the source who did not wish to be named. Mr Barrett’s group who exited Nama last year is the largest indigenous employer in Galway city, employing 500 people.

The group expanded significantly in the last decade and had loans of €885m in 2008, of which €621m were from Anglo Irish Bank.

It bought Ashford Castle for close to €55m on the eve of the crash, but the hotel was subsequently sold for a fraction of that amount. Its loans were bought by Deutsche Bank at a large discount.

A sister firm to MT Mono Trading in the Edwards Holdings Group, KH Kitty Hall Holdings Ltd had bank loans of €132m at the end of last year, and posted a loss of €3.3m.

Edwards Holdings is landlord to 125 retail tenants various sites, in leisure and retail, including Galway, Mayo, Cork, Dublin, Waterford and Drogheda.