The Dalata Hotel Group has filed accounts showing an improvement in overall performance for the year ending in December 2011. The group recorded earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) last year of €2 million, up from the €800,000 of such earnings reported for 2010.
The company was initially set up in 2007 when it purchased the operating business of eleven hotels in Ireland. The next year the firm launched its Maldron Hotels brand. Maldron now has ten three-star and four-star hotels in Ireland. The company also manages hotels on behalf of asset owners meaning it operates a total of 4,500 bedrooms in Ireland and the UK and employs around 2,500 staff.
The Directors report said: “Trading conditions in the sector improved in 2011 with some demand growth in Dublin. As the year progressed there was stabilisation in the rest of the country, although some regions saw demand decline further,” and Chief executive of the Group, Mr Pat McCann, expected earnings at the company to increase by 40 per cent on those recorded last year. He said the anticipated growth this year arose from the improved performance in its Dublin hotels as well as the group operating more managed properties.
The group has demonstrated an ability to expand even in the current challenging economic times taking on management contracts for businesses such as the Citywest Hotel in Dublin and the Heritage Golf and Spa Resort in Portlaoise.
A recent report from Failte Ireland also shows that the hotel sector experienced a jump in demand in the first half of this year. Preliminary figures show bookings from overseas visitors were up 14 percent between January and July. Failte Ireland pointed out that the hotel sector is doing well in urban areas. “It’s always welcome to see an increase like that,” chief executive Tim Fenn said. “From our own barometer we have preliminary indications that Dublin has had a very good year.”