Hodson Bay Group sees pretax profits rise 5% to €2.1m

Pretax profits at the Hodson Bay hotel group last year increased by 5 per cent to €2.1 million. Controlled by the O’Sullivan family, it includes the four-star Hodson Bay hotel and the four-star Sheraton hotel in Athlone, along with the four-star Galway Bay hotel.

The group also entered the Dublin market last year with the opening of its €50 million 234-bedroom Hyatt Centric hotel at the Coombe near St Patrick’s Cathedral. The new hotel provided the group with a 47 per cent increase in rooms, from 495 to 729. Its Hodson Bay hotel has 175 rooms, with 167 at the Sheraton and 153 at the Galway Bay hotel.

Revenues at the group rose 3 per cent to €31.87 million from €30.9 million in the 12 months to the end of February last.

It recorded operating profits of €3.3m, while net interest payments of €1.22 million meant pre-tax profits of €2.1 million.

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Managing director Padraig Sugrue said: "Group average room rate increased by €2 to €102, with average occupancy increasing by 1.5 per cent to 75.5 per cent."

On the opening of the Hyatt Centric in Dublin, Mr Sugrue said: “It will be well into 2020 before we have any real information regarding its performance. However ,we are very confident about its future as Hyatt hotels are a major international brand with over 20 million loyalty customers..

Staff costs last year increased from €12.5 million to €12.8 million. The group now employs 650.