Ex-Seán Quinn owned Slieve Russell Hotel returns to profit
Following the collapse of the Quinn empire, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), formerly Anglo Irish Bank, took control of the Slieve Russell Hotel when a share receiver was appointed to the hotel firm, in April 2011.
The share receiver continues to operate the hotel and new accounts filed by Slieve Russell Hotel Property Ltd show that the hotel’s revenues increased by 16% to €14.56m in 2015.
The chief reason was the reversal of a previous property impairment of €6.6m, as the outlook for business has improved.
A note attached to the accounts show that €69m is payable to IBRC and the loan facilities are currently being managed by the special liquidators to IBRC. The note, however, said the directors are in talks with IBRC over significant liabilities.
The accounts show that IBRC has not taken any additional steps relating to the facilities since the appointment of the share receiver in 2011. IBRC charged the Slieve Russell firm interest of €870,000 in 2015, while the firm paid €111,000. The company’s cash during the year increased from €949,000 to €2.56m.
According to the directors’ report, “the hotel performed very well over the course of 2015 with an exceptionally high number of corporate and hospitality events managed by the hotel”.
It states that “the strong performance is attributed to excellent management team with oversight from the board”.
The €7.4m pre-tax profit in 2015 followed the firm posting a modest €65,000 pre-tax loss in 2014.
The directors stated that the company’s 2016 budget signals that it will post adjusted profits this year.
“The company is expected to generate significant positive cash flows on its own account for the remainder of 2016 and 2017,” the directors reported.
The board said it continued to invest in the Slieve Russell property in 2015.
The firm posted an operating profit of €8.27m last year, with cost of sales of €10.3m and administrative expenses of €2.5m.
Staff numbers increased from 201 to 220 last year, and staff costs increased from €5.4m to €6m.
The amount paid to key management personnel last year increased from €477,000 to €491,000.
The accounts disclose that Savills carried out a valuation of the property in 2015 and the €7.5m increase in value “reflects enhancements to the fabric of the property together with improved trading conditions”.
