Hotels group Jurys Doyle has reported pre-tax profits of just under €22m for the first half of this year, down from €25.2m in the same period last year, when the results were boosted by a €3.6m profits on the sale of hotels.
Turnover rose 9% to €135m, while operating profits grew by 12.8% to €31.8m. Adjusted earnings per share were up 3.7% to 30.9 cent and a 3% higher interim dividend of 8.4 cent has been declared.
The company's interest payments were 50% higher at €9.9m, mainly because of the costs of financing recently opened hotels.
Jurys Doyle says there was a continued recovery in the London and Washington hotel markets in the period and a 29% increase in profits from its Jurys Inns division, with the UK hotels performing particularly strongly.
But the company's four-star market in Ireland remained subdued, and total revenues here fell 3%. Coupled with an increase in costs, this led to a 24% drop in profits in this division.
Last month, Jurys Doyle opened its Inn in Parnell Street in Dublin, while in July it announced plans for a hotel at Croke Park.
Shares in the company closed 30 cent lower at €10.25 in Dublin this evening.
