Hotel Group Jurys Doyle - at the centre of takeover speculation in recent weeks - has reported underlying pre-tax profits of €23.7m for the six months to the end of June, a 7.8% rise from the figure of almost €22m the same time last year. The figures have been prepared under new IFRS accountancy rules for the first time.
Pre-tax profits fell to €15.3m after charges for depreciation, impairment and rationalisation costs. The impairment charge of €3.4m is linked to a fall in the value of the Jurys Glasgow Hotel after a revluation of the property, while there was a similar charge linked to the closure of the Jurys Cork Hotel.
Sales for the six month period increased by 11.8% to €150.9m from €134.9m , while basic earnings per share fell to 18.3 cent, down from 31.7 cent for the first six months of 2004.
The hotel group said the outcome for the six months was achieved against the background of good business conditions in London and Washington. The Irish and UK Jurys Inn division also saw a strong performance in the first half of the year with the combined trading profits up by 21%.
'The performance for the first six months of 2005 would have been better but for the business environment for our Dublin hotels, where the group's performance continued to disappoint though improved from the first quarter,' a statement from the company said.
As of today, Jurys Doyle said it has not received any approaches to acquire the company other than the proposals received from Precinct Investments and that it remains in an offer period.
The hotel group said that trading in the combined Jurys Hotels division in the UK and the US and across the combined Jurys Inns division in Ireland and the UK continues to be satisfactory.
However it added that the trading performance across its four star Dublin hotel portfolio continues to below its expectations. 'We have previously stated that the group required an escalation in the business build-up in some of our recent hotel openings. While we have been experiencing some improvements in business build-up at these hotels, they are not yet performing at expected levels,' the company said.
The hotel group said it was reassured by the good performance of its latest Jurys Inn, which opened in Southampton last May. It said that the recent bomb attacks in London are having some - but not a material - impact on its London operations.
'Against this backdrop, we continue to aim to deliver further underlying growth in turnover and profit in 2005,' it added.
Jurys Doyle shares closed up 35 cent at €18.35 in Dublin.
