Profits climb 28% at Ashling Hotel
Pre-tax profits at the hotel group which operates the Ashling Hotel near Heuston Station in Dublin climbed 28% to over €6m in 2017.
Accounts show revenues at the Flannery family-owned Foxfield Inns Ltd increased 5% to €21m, which included investment income of €375,897.
The firm approved dividends of €550,000 after paying out €750,000 in 2016.
Pay to directors fell from just over €951,100 to €897,775, including pension contributions of €235,084.
The directors are listed as Kevin Flannery, Mary Flannery, Andrena Moynihan, Frank Flannery, and Sheelagh Flannery.
In 2017, it “accomplished a level of financial reward in line with expectation”, said the firm.
Staff numbers were unchanged at 178, as staff costs fell slightly to over €7.2m.
At the end of 2017, the firm’s accumulated profits totalled €49.18m and its cash pile increased from €6.28m to €8.3m.
The profit in 2017 takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €527,669.
Last year the business was thwarted in its expansion plans when An Bord Pleanála refused permission to build a 10-storey apartment-hotel.
The plan included 31 self-contained executive suites that would have involved the demolition of four vacant and semi-derelict buildings.
The company said the hotel was running at peak capacity and needed to expand to accommodate the increased business.
Planning was refused for reasons which included that the proposed building failed to protect and enhance the character and appearance of the area and its setting.
