Dalata Hotel Group cuts its losses from €70m to €37.8m

DALATA Hotel Group, which operates all Maldron and Clayton brands in Ireland, cut its losses during the first six months of this year to €37.8m from €70.9m in the first half of 2020 as hotels began to reopen for non-essential guests.

It posted adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of €1.4m in the first six months of this year.

It generated revenue of €39.6m in the first half of 2021, compared with €80.8m in the first half of 2020.

In the first half of 2019, Dalata posted revenue of €201.9m and a pre-tax profit of €37.8m.

The company said demand for staycations pushed up occupancy rates, which on a group basis hit 44 per cent in June, 58 per cent in July and 68 per cent in August.

Dermot Crowley, the incoming boss at Ireland’s largest hotel group, Dalata, said that it’s still too difficult to predict how demand will play out in the short-term.

“It’s so hard to predict,” he said. “If you told me we’d get close to 60 per cent occupancy in August back at the start of June, I wouldn’t have believed it. The strength of the domestic market was far stronger than what we would have expected. You’ll naturally see a reduction in domestic demand with the kids back at school during the week. The weekends, we would still expect to be strong.”

Dalata said it’s also examining opportunities to take over distressed assets in the hotel market.

Six new Dalata hotels will open between December this year and May 2022, including properties in Dublin, Manchester and Bristol.

The company currently has a portfolio of 45 hotels, and are planning an expansion in Europe.

Meanwhile, founding executive Stephen McNally is to retire from the group. He was deputy chief executive.

Mr Crowley assumes the role of CEO at Dalata next month, succeeding Pat McCann.

Carol Phelan was recently appointed chief financial officer.