Dalata Hotel Group's annual revenues exceeded €0.5 billion for the first time in 2022 as the company opened six new hotels, including its first hotel in continental Europe - the Clayton Hotel Dusseldorf.
Dalata operates the Maldron and Clayton hotel brands.
It said its revenues for the year to the end of December increased to €558.3m from €192m in 2021 when Covid travel restrictions were still in place.
This also compared to revenues of €429m in pre-Covid 2019 - an increase of 20%
The hotel group's profit before tax increased to €109.7m from a loss of €11.4m in 2021 and profit before tax of €89.7m in 2019. Profits after tax came to €96.7m, up 24% on 2019.
"We're delighted to exceed revenue of over half a billion or the first time," said Dalata CEO Dermot Crowley.
"That's been helped hugely by opening six new hotels last year, and taking over our first hotel in Europe and our RevPAR on a like-for-like basis is up 14% on 2019," he said.
"It's great to generate free cashflow after two years of negative cashflow, so very positive after two very challenging years," he added.
The company said it added more than 1,900 new rooms to its portfolio of 50 hotels last year, as it added six leased hotels and one owned hotel. It also has a pipeline of 1,333 rooms for the coming months.
Group RevPAR (revenue per available room) rose to €102.23 from €40.02 in 2022 and €93.43 in 2019, while its average room rate increased to €134.80 from €100.71 in 2022 and €113.14 in 2019.
While occupancy levels at its hotels were still below pre-Covid levels, they rose to 75.8% in 2022 from 39.7% in 2021.
Occupancy levels had reached 82.6% in 2019 before the outbreak of Covid hit the travel and hospitality sectors.
Mr Crowley said their revenue per available room in Dublin was up 10% last year.
"When you compare to what we've suffered in terms of inflation on the cost side, isn't a huge increase," he said. "During a busy summer period in Dublin last year our average room rate during those four months was €166, and our average room rate for the year was €148".
"For a four star hotel in Dublin I think that represents good value," he stated.
Mr Crowley said he could not forecast what their average room rate would be in the coming summer, however he said he did not believe Irish hotels were pricing themselves out of the international market.
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"When we look at our customer satisfaction reviews and our ratings, we get very little negative feedback on pricing from our international customers," he said. "Our value pricing ratings in 2022 were very similar to what they were in 2019, and that's taking over thousands of customer reviews."
The company opened its 50th hotel with Clayton Hotel Glasgow City in October 2022, while six leased hotels and one owned hotel were added to its portfolio last year.
It also diversified further into the UK hotel market during the year, adding 1,165 rooms to its UK portfolio.
Since the end of the year it has completed the £44.3m purchase of the new 192-bedroom Maldron Hotel Finsbury Park, London, which is expected to open this summer.
Four hotels are currently under construction in big UK cities. It new London hotel is due to open in the first quarter of 2024 and new hotels in Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester are all due to open in the summer of 2024.
Dalata said that recognising the importance of dividends to shareholders, the strength of the operational performance, cash generation of the business and its future prospects, it plans to re-introduce a progressive dividend policy, commencing with an interim dividend at 2023's half year results.
The group said it remains cautiously optimistic on its outlook for 2023, adding that engagement with corporate customers and tour operators on demand and pricing has been positive.
"There are also positive demand indicators in Ireland and the UK, including on the resumption of more normalised conference and events business levels and the continuing return of international travellers, in particular from the US market," it added.
It also said it has entered into fixed pricing contracts for over 85% of its projected gas and electricity consumption in 2023.
"We estimate total gas and electricity costs of about €31m in 2023, based on projected consumption, compared to total gas and electricity costs of €31.7m for the year ended 31 December 2022," it added.
Dermot Crowley, the company's group chief executive, said he was very pleased with the hotel group's recovery and record performance.
"We have emerged from the pandemic and its after effects with a business that has grown in scale and ambition. We are proud to have recently opened our 50th hotel with the completion of Clayton Hotel Glasgow City, to have added seven hotels to the Group's portfolio during the year and to have exceeded €0.5 billion in revenues for the first time," he said.
He said he wants Dalata to retain the elements which have made it successful while responding to the new realities facing the industry, the after-effects of the pandemic and the current geopolitical events in Europe.
"I believe Dalata can respond effectively to the challenges faced by our industry utilising these strategic pillars to optimise our product offering, streamline our processes, drive innovation while maintaining a healthy bottom line and to manage and grow our business responsibly and sustainably," he added.
In a note on today's results, Davy Stockbrokers said that Dalata's recovery in 2022 was exceptional and current trading remains very strong, with RevPAR about 25% ahead of 2019 levels.
"The group's performance during the initial recovery phase from the pandemic shines a light on its operational excellence. The balance sheet position is stronger than we had anticipated, and the Board plans to announce an interim dividend at the H123 results," Davy said.
"Dalata is very well placed to outperform given the combination of an attractive modern estate, its pipeline, a discounted valuation; and significant balance sheet optionality. At first glance, we see upside to our FY23 forecasts," the stockbrokers added.
