The Conrad Hotel in central Dublin has returned to the black with a pretax profit of about €100,000 for 2006 after losing money for four years.
Part-owned by multi-millionaire developer Bernard McNamara, the 192-room hotel is engaged in a strategic effort to rebalance its customer base and reduce its reliance on corporate business. Located in Earlsfort Terrace, the hotel attributes its return to profitability to improved room occupancy and revenues but said in newly filed accounts that its food and beverage business "continues to be a challenge".
The Conrad is among several five-star properties in Dublin that expect to capitalise on the closure of the Jurys hotels in Ballsbridge. It trades under the brand of Conrad International, a shareholder in the Dublin business and a division of the Hilton group.
The firm that runs the hotel - Earlsfort Centre Hotel Properties - saw its turnover increase to €15.39 million last year from €13.79 million in 2005. Pretax profits of €100,933 last year reversed a pretax loss of €804,141 in 2005 and an operating profit of €962,671 reversed an operating loss of €72,726. The company lost €861,414 before tax in 2004 and it had a pretax loss of €1.19 million in 2003 and a pretax loss of €1.06 million in 2002. "Trading performance in 2006 was ahead of 2005 actual. All key room metrics including occupancy, average rate and RevPar (revenue per available room) improved on 2005 actual," said the accounts.
"The food and beverage department, whilst above 2005 actual, continues to be a challenge. Specific sales and marketing focus will be directed towards banqueting during 2007. As previously noted in the 2005 business review, the company will seek to extract further added value from the Alfie Byrne facilities in 2007-2008."
Mr McNamara acquired a 45 per cent interest in the Conrad from the Irish Shell pension fund and nominees of the Bank of New York. In addition to Conrad International, the other owners are Hibernian Life & Pensions and Cashel Fund. "The financial plan for 2007 is for a profit on ordinary activities and is predicated on continuing growth in occupancy, average room rate and in RevPar," the accounts said.
"In terms of assessing risks and uncertainties, the macro view continues to be positive. International travel has grown and world economies are in a relatively stable growth cycle. The international hospitality sector is performing significantly better as judged by corporate earnings in the last six months."
