Annual profits at the Clontarf Castle Hotel in north Dublin slumped by almost 41 per cent to €335,174 in the year to last November, according to its latest accounts.
The luxury hotel, well known for its banqueting facilities, saw pretax profits fall from €565,789 the previous year.
There was no explanation in the abridged accounts for Clontarf Castle Ltd for the fall in profits, which was recorded in spite of a 3 per cent increase in the number of tourists travelling to Ireland during 2004 and a 4 per cent rise in 2003.
The company did not publish a figure for the hotel's turnover in the accounts, which indicate that staff costs rose to €4.78 million in the year from €3.4 million while the cost of sales rose to €3.44 million from €2.48 million. Additional, but unspecified, operating charges rose to €4.4 million from €3.1 million.
The company made no comment when questioned about the accounts yesterday. Its tax charge fell in the year to €26,821 from €105,171 the previous year. The hotel and its grounds, which date from 1172, had a net book value of €3.71 million on October 31st.
The hotel is owned by a Howth-based couple, Gerald and Carmel Houlihan, who also control the DID electrical goods retail chain and the Long Hall pub on South Great George's Street, Dublin.
These businesses appear to be performing somewhat better.
The accounts for DID, one of the best known indigenous brands in Irish retailing, indicate that its pretax profits grew marginally to €2.29 million in the year to last December from €2.24 million.
Turnover at the business, which has 10 branches, grew to €65.76 million from €59.92 million.
While operating profits rose to €2.44 million from €2.19 million, the after-tax profit fell to €1.99 million from €2.06 million.
Registered as Home Appliances Ltd, the business paid €1.54 million to its six directors.
In addition to Gerald and Carmel Houlihan, the other directors are John Doran, Michael Houlihan, Martin Fitzgerald and Anthony McArdle.
The company paid €308,384 in corporation tax, up from €183,256 a year earlier.
Abridged accounts for Long Hall Lounge Bars Ltd reveal little about the performance of the Long Hall. The amount in the profit and loss account fell to €121,903 at the end of April 2004 from €134,291 a year earlier. Cash at bank and in hand increased to €625,360 from €384,208 in the same period.
