Kerry hotel group sees losses mount due to Covid pandemic

Europe Hotel Killarney, Co Kerry. The awardwinning, five-star hotel is part of Killarney Hotels Ltd.

Pre-tax losses at a hotel group that operates two five-star Co Kerry hotels last year increased more than threefold to €16.9m due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Killarney Hotels Ltd operates the awardwinning five-star Europe Hotel and Resort and the five-star, 102-bedroom Dunloe Castle Hotel along with the four-star Hotel Ard na Sidhe.

Accounts just filed by the Swiss-owned firm to the companies office show that the group’s pre-tax loss increased sharply after revenues plunged by 59% or €13.4m from €22.8m to €9.33m.

The business owned by Liebherr International was the subject to Covid-19 enforced closures in common with all hospitality businesses last year and this contributed to numbers employed by the business reducing by 175 from 261 to 86.

The company’s revenues are made up of hotel income and farming income and the drop in hotel revenues was even starker at 61% to €8.68m as farm income increased by 52% from €426,158 to €649,718.

The directors state that they consider the performance of the company given the extraordinary circumstances to be in line with expectations.

A large factor in the 2020 €16.9m pre-tax loss was the company recording a non-cash impairment charge of €9m which related to the Dunloe hotel.

The company’s wage costs last year declined from €8.44m to €3.5m.

The amount the company received in government wage subsidy scheme payments last year totalled €956,018.

The directors state that a plummeting tourist industry felt the effects of Covid-19 in 2020 and will "for years to come”.

The directors believe that when the rebound occurs tourist numbers at Killarney Hotels will recover quickly and continue to expand.