Longford Forest, the Center Parcs holiday resort in Ballymahon, Co Longford, continued “to trade well” in the second half of last year and the £100 million (€120.63 million) expansion of the property is “under way”, the resort’s UK parent has said in a trading update for the 36 weeks to December 26th 2024.
CPUK Finance, which directly owns five Centre Parcs resorts in the UK, said trading had been “robust” in the third quarter of its financial year despite the impact of Storm Darragh in December.
The powerful cyclone meant its Longleat resort in the south of England was “unable to operate” for a time, the Brookfield-owned company said.
Still, the group achieved 95.1 per cent occupancy levels over the period, which it said is in line with previous years.
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The group’s Irish property is owned through a separate Irish-registered entity. However, Center Parcs said the Longford resort “continues to trade well”, is “performing well” and continues to garner “outstanding” guest satisfaction scores.
It also confirmed the expansion of the property has been “under way” since last September.
Center Parcs secured permission in late 2023 for a £100 million extension of the resort, adding almost 200 new lodges and increasing its capacity to about 3,500 guests.
The operating company behind the Ballymahon resort paid its parent company €152.7 million in dividends in 2024, up from €13.8 million the year before, according to accounts filed in Dublin last summer.
Revenues at Center Parcs Ireland Limited rose to €96.7 million in the year to April 2024, compared to €87.4 million the year before. That means it was pulling in an average of €1.86 million a week.
However, pretax profit fell to €11.2 million compared to €19.8 million a year earlier, as its finance costs rose from €7.2 million to €20.2 million thanks to a rise in the amount of interest payable on its borrowings. The company refinanced its existing debt of €165.3 million during the year with a new loan facility in the amount of €265 million.
At the time, the directors said its occupancy rate – that is the average number of units of accommodation occupied as a percentage of the total number – rose from 97.9 per cent to 98.7 per cent last year.
