Goldman’s Tifco hotels group in 36% profits boost
Pre-tax profits at the Goldman Sachs-backed hotel firm, Tifco Ltd, jumped 36%, to €5.48m, last year.
After the stockmarket-listed Dalata, Tifco is the second-largest hotel group in Ireland and its new accounts show its revenues rose 6.5%, to €37.24m.
It includes 24 properties and over 2,365 rooms and operates both wholly owned and managed hotels, including the Hotel Killarney, the Metropole, in Cork, the Hilton Kilmainham, as well as 901 rooms from the Travelodge group.
Earlier this year, the business was put up for sale, for a price tag believed to be €600m.
The directors state that occupancy and average room rates continued to show strong growth — revenue per room grew by over 10% in 2017. The profit takes account of interest costs of almost €2.19m and non-cash depreciation costs of €2.74m. Directors’ pay increased from €412,900 to €480,900, with costs for 316 staff running out at €11.43m.
The company, in the accounts, said it was satisfied with the performance of the hotels and its increased trade.
The business is partly owned by Aidan Crowe and DID founder, Gerry Houlihan. Mr Houlihan and his family also own Clontarf Castle, in Dublin, which is managed by Tifco.
Separate accounts for Clontarf Castle show that the Houlihan family tapped a €1.5m dividend last year from the business, as profits jumped by 45%.
Pre-tax profits increased to €3.6m, as revenues rose 6%, to €12.35m. The company had paid dividends of €1m in 2016 and €1.25m in 2015. The business is controlled by Ardmel Holdings and its shareholders include members of the Houlihan family.
