The Hodson Bay Group is to open a new €15m eco-tourism retreat this summer as it said its revenues increased by 2.5% to just over €60m for last year.
Group CEO Padraig Sugrue said the group’s Hyatt Centric hotel in Dublin city was its best performing hotel in the group, recording €17.5m in revenues for the 12 months to the end of February last.
Along with the Hyatt Centric hotel in Dublin’s Liberties, the group operates the 4-star Hodson Bay hotel outside Athlone; the 4-star Sheraton hotel in Athlone town centre and the 4-star Galway Bay hotel.
The consolidated accounts for the three hotels located outside the capital are contained in Shermond Holdings Ltd and they show that pre-tax profits increased by 2.6% to €4.72m for the 12 months to the end of February last.
The O’Sullivan family controlled group is to add to its accommodation this summer with the opening of Yew Point set on “a 145-acre regenerative tourism retreat” close to the Hodson Bay hotel.
Mr Sugrue said that the destination will include 36 A-framed cabins to accommodate guests where guests will be able to enjoy a nature immersive experience that will include wellness areas.
An economic analysis lodged with the planning application for Yew Point estimates that the Yewpoint site could generate additional tourism spend in the area between €35.1m and €38.8m over its first ten years.
Mr Sugrue said that Yew Point is currently under construction and will employ an additional 50 people when operational.
He said that wage costs across the group, including the Hyatt Centric Hotel, last year totalled €23m. He said that 750 people are employed across the four hotel properties.
Mr Sugrue said that over 75% of guests at the Hyatt Centric are international “where the US market continues to perform well for us”.
Accounts for the Hyatt Centric have yet to be filed but the accounts for Shermond Holdings show that the three other hotels recorded a combined operating profit of €5.4m and net interest costs of €727,384 contributed to a pre-tax profit of €4.72m.
Shermond Holdings recorded a post tax profit of €3.93m after the group incurred a corporation tax charge of €795,233.
The profits also take account of non-cash depreciation costs rising from €1.4m to €1.6m. The group’s net cash generated from operating activities totalled €8.03m.
Revenues for Shermond totalled €42.11m for the year under review.
At the end of February last, shareholder funds at Shermond Holdings totalled €39.64m that included accumulated profits of €36.8m.
Cash funds increased from €8.32m to €11.14m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan