Citywest hotel makes operating profits of €17.5m in one year for housing refugees

State bought centre for €148.25m this year, with the purchase estimated to save the Government €1bn over 25 years

The Citywest Hotel and refugee centre in Saggart, West Dublin. Picture: Colin Keegan/ Collins

The scale of profits recorded by the former owners of the Citywest hotel in Saggart in west Dublin for accommodating refugees have been revealed for the first time.

The former owner of the hotel, Tetrarch Capital, has lodged overdue accounts for the hotel, showing the business recorded operating profits of €17.5m in 2022.

In August of this year, the State completed the €148.25m purchase of the Citywest centre with the migration minister Jim O’Callaghan saying at the time that compared to the costs of the previous leasing Citywest model, the savings to the State would pay back the purchase price within four years.

He said with the purchase, the State is estimated to save €1bn over 25 years, compared to the model for leasing the site, while also delivering a permanent State asset.

Figures from the Department of Integration show the former owner of Citywest, Tetrarch Capital owned Cape Wrath Hotel UC, received €70.8m in 2024 for housing international protection applicants (IPAs) and Ukrainian refugees at Citywest.

This followed Cape Wrath Hotel UC receiving €53.7m in 2023 for accommodating IPAs and Ukrainians at Citywest.

However, the profits recorded by the Citywest company from accommodating refugees have been unknown — until now.

The hotel entered into an agreement with the State in June 2022 to provide temporary accommodation for Ukrainians seeking refuge in Ireland.

The State has leased the 764-bed hotel and conference centre since 2020. It was initially used as a covid-19 testing and vaccination centre before being converted to an accommodation and processing facility for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees in 2022.

Prior to its deals with the State, Cape Wrath UC was loss-making in 2019, where it recorded a pre-tax loss of €77,774 as revenues increased by 6%, from €28.82m to €30.52m.

The new accounts for Tetrarch Capital firm, Alva Glen Investments Limited and Subsidiaries, which includes Cape Wrath UC, show that arising from its deal to accommodate Ukrainians, revenues at the Citywest hotel increased almost three fold, from €16.2m in 2021 to €48.28m in 2022.

The business recorded an operating profit of €17.5m in 2022 compared to an operating loss of €798,801 in 2021.

The 2022 operating profit takes account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation charges of €4.13m.

The group recorded a pre-tax profit of €14.7m after it paid out interest charges of €2.64m and incurred a property write down of €135,000.

The group recorded a post-tax profit of €12.48m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €2.24m.

The directors say they consider the profit for the year to be satisfactory and the increase in revenues reflects the agreement to accommodate Ukrainians.

Numbers employed by the company in 2022 increased from 99 to 285, as staff costs more than doubled from €3.1m to €6.75m.

The accounts were signed off the board in November 2023 but have only been lodged with the Companies Registration Office in recent days.

The profits for 2023, 2024 and 2025 will be disclosed when accounts for those years are lodged with the Companies Office.