Clayton and Maldron hotels operator Dalata has reported a profit of €46.7m for the first half of the year after making a loss of €30.4m during the same period in 2021 when Covid restrictions were still in force.
The reported profit after tax exceeds the €32.7m made by the company in the first half of 2019, indicating that the group has completed its recovery post-pandemic.
Dalata brought in revenues of €220.2m for the six-month period, an increase of €180.7m from the first half of 2021 when the company reported turnover of €39.6m, and again in excess of the same span in 2019 (€201.9m).
Free cash flow of €56.6m was up from €45.2m in 2019, and earnings per share of 21 cent compared to a -13.6 cent in early 2021 and 17.7 cent in early 2019.
Dalata charged an average room rate of €126.89 in H1, up from €81.99 in H1 2021 and a 15% increase from early 2019 (€110.30), helping to drive revenues despite occupancy levels of 69.8%, which were up year-on-year (19.9%) but still down on pre-Covid levels (80.2%).
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Revenue per available room of €88.61 was more or less stable against 2019 (€88.48), with overall revenues reflecting Dalata's greater number of rooms in 2022, while like-for-like revenue per available room of €91.75 represented a 5% improvement on three years ago (€87.81).
Dalata has added 1,600 rooms this year to date, with more than 300 to open before the end of the year, and at least 1,125 rooms planned to open from 2023 onwards.
The company opened a Maldron hotel on Merrion Road earlier this month and a Clayton in Glasgow, the company's 50th hotel in all, will open in October, with hotels in Brighton, Liverpool, London and Manchester currently under construction.
"The year to date has also been very busy on the development front with the addition of six hotels (1,600 rooms) across four cities.," said Dermot Crowley, CEO of Dalata.
"This includes our first exciting step into continental Europe as we entered the lease for Hotel Nikko Düsseldorf. Despite a challenging start to the year, we delivered revenues of €220.2m for the period, exceeding the levels achieved in the first half of 2019.
"Over the last two years, financial stability has been a key focus for our team. I am especially happy to report that our balance sheet has significantly strengthened since the start of the year which ensures we have the capability to exploit opportunities to expand the portfolio further."
Dalata said it now has €1.3bn in owned assets and a net debt to earnings after rent ration of 1.9x, down from 2.8x in December 2019, and cash and undrawn committed facilities of €35.2m, compared to €298.5m at the end of last year.
Looking ahead, the company said it now has a group average room rate of €151m and occupancy levels of 89% for the peak July/August season, with revenue per available room ahead of 2019 by 21% in Dublin, 36% in the rest of Ireland and 15% in the UK.
"We are cautiously optimistic on trade for the remainder of the year", the company said, adding that 5% of its rooms in Ireland are being used as emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees and that inflationary pressures have not yet affected demand.
The group has either purchased or locked in prices for approximately 75% of its consumption for electricity and 65% of its consumption for gas for the rest of 2022, and expects its energy bill to increase from €13m in H1 to €21m in H2.
"Despite the macroeconomic challenges, we look forward with optimism and enthusiasm to the months and years ahead," Crowley concluded.
(Pic: Clayton Hotel Burlington Road)
