Companies behind the Gresham Dublin and the five-star Castlemartyr resort in Co Cork last year made strong recoveries after the pandemic.
New accounts show that pretax profits at Gresham Hotel Company Ltd which operates the four-star hotel on Dublin’s O’Connell Street increased more than fourfold from €1.57 million to €6.83 million last year.
This followed revenues almost tripling from €7.78 million to €23.32 million. The main driver behind the revenue surge was income from room sales more than tripling from €6.15 million to €19.28 million. Bar and food sales more than doubled from €1.54 million to €3.63 million.
The firm also benefited from government grants of €1.1 million which were down sharply on the €2.7 million received under that heading in 2021.
The great Guinness shortage has lessons for Diageo
Ireland has won the corporation tax game for now, but will that last?
Corkman leading €11bn development of Battersea Power Station in London: ‘We’ve created a place to live, work and play’
Elf doors, carriage rides and boat cruises: Christmas in Ireland’s five-star hotels
The 2022 pretax profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.64 million and €1.59 million in management services charged by fellow affiliates.
At year end, the hotel firm’s shareholder funds totalled €54.64 million which included accumulated profits of €45.24 million.
The directors state they were satisfied “with the level of retained reserves at year end”.
[ Why was the tourism sector ignored in the budget?Opens in new window ]
[ Gresham Hotel’s revenues fall by €15.5m due to pandemicOpens in new window ]
Numbers employed increased from 205 to 276 as staff costs more than doubled from €3.3 million to €7.55 million. The hotel was purchased by Spain’s RIU Group for €92 million in 2016.
Separate accounts lodged by the Singapore-owned Castlemartyr Country Hotel Resort Ltd which operates the five-star resort in Co Cork show that revenues increased by 75 per cent from €7.11 million for nine months in 2021 to €12.45 million for the 12 months of last year.
Despite the sharp increase in revenues, Castlemartyr Country Hotel Resort Ltd last year recorded a pretax loss of €903,929. This followed administrative expenses increasing from €6.2 million to €11.99 million.
The directors state that “the company made a significant investment in major renovation and refurbishment works during the year in order to upgrade the property”.
[ Castlemartyr operator returns to profitOpens in new window ]
They state they “are confident that the company will move to a profit in the coming years as a result of this investment”.
The directors’ report states that “while the renovations disrupted normal trading during the year, the directors remain confident that the company will continue its growth and will move to a strong trading position as guests return to pre-pandemic levels and functions return to full attendance”.
Numbers employed by the business last year rose from 199 to 392 as staff costs almost doubled from €3.15 million to €6.06 million. The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €803,404. The firm benefited from other operating income of €594,736 last year.
