Denis O'Brien-owned Ballynahinch Castle sees operating profits double
Gordon Deegan
Operating profits at the company that runs the Denis O’Brien-owned four-star Ballynahinch Castle hotel in Co Galway last year more than doubled to €572,977.
New s filed by Mr O’Brien’s Yelsea Ltd show that the hotel firm doubled its operating profits to €572,977 as revenues rose 73 per cent to €8.36 million.
Directors for Yelsea Ltd - which include Mr O’Brien’s wife, Catherine - state that "2022 saw a return to pre-Covid-19 trading levels".
However, the firm recorded a pre-tax loss of €66,948 last year after interest payable and similar expenses of €639,925.
The bulk of the interest payable at €461,124 was on a shareholder’s loan and this contributed to a total of €3.31m interest payable on the shareholder’s loan at the end of 2022.
In their report, the directors state that "costs pressures are a factor for the business going forward reflective of the wider inflationary macroeconomic environment”.
They add: "However, the business has been able to adapt to manage costs effectively.”
The shareholder’s loan to the Denis O’Brien-controlled business at the end of last year totalled €15.37 million.
The principal risks facing the company are listed as the continuing inflationary pressures on costs, global instability and unfavourable exchange rate movements that could impact international travel, particularly from the US, and any potential slowdown or contraction in the Irish economy in the future.
The operating profit also takes of non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €1.34 million.
The numbers employed at the castle hotel last year increased from 85 to 101 as staff costs increased from €2.3 million to €3.19 million.
The s - signed off by Catherine O’Brien and Niall Geoghegan on October 20th - show that the company’s cash funds increased from €2.1 million to €2.7 million.
The firm received no Covid-19 Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments last year after receiving €1.23 million under that heading in 2021.
Mr O’Brien paid about €6.5 million for Ballynahinch in 2013 and has extensively refurbished the property.
The Ballynahinch company valued its fixed assets at €16.6 million at the end of 2022.
