Dalata optimistic despite loss of more than €70m
Dalata, the largest hotel group in Ireland, has made losses of almost €71m for the first half of 2020.
The Dublin-based company, which owns four hotels in Northern Ireland, has now been hit with a revaluation loss on its properties of €161m according to its interim results. That’s 12 per cent down on figures for the end of 2019.
Its room occupancy rates of 34 per cent for the period were down dramatically from 80 per cent during the same period last year and revenue at the group, whose brands include the Clayton and Maldron hotels, fell by 60 per cent to €80.8m.
Dalata’s chief executive, Pat McCann, says the valuations, which were carried out by Savills, are ‘conservative’ and pointed out that most hotel valuations are likely to be down because of the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The group acknowledges ‘record low occupancies’ during the period of the lockdown. Occupancy rates for August are forecast to be around 40 per cent.
‘While the future remains uncertain, I am encouraged by the positive demand drivers in the markets in which Dalata operates,’ added Mc McCann. ‘The Irish economy and Dublin market is underpinned by strong FDI from industries which will be less impacted by Covid-19. There is also likely to be pent-up demand from key destination cities such as London and Dublin.’
Recent figures from hospitality analysts, STR, appeared to confirm the widely held belief that in the north, rural hotels were faring much better than their counterparts in the cities. Its figures showed that in July of this year, hotels in Fermanagh, the Mournes and along the North Coast had the highest occupancy rates while those in Derry/Londonderry recorded 31.9 per cent and in Belfast, just 21.4 per cent.
