Newly-filed accounts for the parent company of Dublin's Westbury Hotel, Doyle Hotels Holdings Ltd, have revealed that the company made a pre-tax of €8.4 million last year while its turnover amounted to €148.3 million.
Meanwhile, the value of the company's hotel assets increased by €23.4 million to €671.5 million.
The company's turnover in Ireland, where it also operates Dublin's Croke Park Hotel and Cork's River Lee Hotel, was flat last year at €57.5 million, while its UK income increased by 2.7% to €70.9 million and turnover at its Dupont Circle venue in Washington was also flat at a little less than €20 million.
Additionally, Doyle Hotels had €35 million in cash at the end of 2019, and it refinanced its €241 million in loan facilities out to 2029.
COVID-19 Impact
Trading at Doyle Hotels has been "significantly impacted" this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Irish Times quotes the company's chief executive, Pat King, as saying, "It is envisaged that trading will recover in a graduated manner. In the UK and Ireland, it will be initially be domestic and short-haul led. As and when Europe begins to reopen, London and Dublin will benefit. Washington DC, as the centre of federal government in the US, will benefit from the rebuild of domestic and international business.
"Long haul international will take longer to benefit the UK and Ireland. Major events such as conventions, sporting and cultural occasions will remain restricted in terms of capacity, and will be the last to appreciably recover in terms of hospitality demand.
"It could take until quarter four of 2022, at least, for a substantive recovery across the locations, and of course this is depending on the improvement in public health considerations."
King said that the company has availed of government supports in each of its jurisdictions and noted, "The UK government was particularly decisive in moving business rates to zero for 12 months."
Speaking about The Westbury, where bedroom capacity has been reduced, King stated, "Up to the introduction of level five restrictions, occupancy levels for [The Westbury's] reduced capacity held up well, particularly for weekends."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
