THE MERRION Hotel in Dublin has returned to profitability, recording a profit before tax of €34,599 in the year to the end of October 2010.
This compared with a loss of €568,640 the previous year and a loss of €607,500 in 2008.
There was no comment available yesterday from anyone associated with the five-star hotel.
The accounts for Hotel Merrion Ltd, the operator of the hotel, state that the company is dependent on the ongoing support of its shareholders in order to maintain its going concern status.
The company is owned by Landmark Investment Company Ltd, which is half-owned by Hotel Merrion directors Martin Naughton and Lochlann Quinn, and half-owned by Hastings Hotel Group Ltd, the shareholders of which are Northern Ireland businessmen, WG Hastings, JE Carson and HJ Hastings, all of whom are directors of Hotel Merrion.
The notes to the Hotel Merrion accounts state that since year end the directors have provided a letter of comfort confirming their continued support for the company and the availability of sufficient cash.
The company’s abridged profit and loss account shows Hotel Merrion reduced its administrative expenses to €5 million in the 2010 year, from €5.6 million the previous year.
The average number of employees increased to 231 from 217, but the cost of employing the staff fell to €6 million from €6.12 million the previous year. The balance sheet showed a shareholders’ deficit at the year’s end of €2.43 million. The company had a €1.19 million loan from its parent, Landmark, at year’s end.
The accounts for Landmark, covering the same period, state that it too is dependent on the continued support of its shareholders to qualify for its going concern status. The shareholders have committed to providing financial support for at least 12 months from January 2011, the date of approval of the accounts.
The company had a shareholders’ deficit of €10.2 million at year’s end, up from €9 million at the end of the previous year, according to the abridged accounts.
The notes to the accounts show that the shareholders have provided Landmark with unsecured, non-interest bearing subordinated loans with no fixed repayment terms. The size of the loans at year’s end was €23.89 million. A bank loan secured by a mortgage on the hotel was €35.3 million at year’s end.