Revenues at the Irish arm of online accommodation rental service, Airbnb last year increased by 48% from $2.82bn to $4.19bn or €3.84bn as nights booked exceeded pre-Covid-19 levels.
The Dublin based Airbnb Ireland UC generated substantially all of its revenues from facilitating guest stays at accommodations offered by hosts on Airbnb's online marketplace for users outside of the United States.
The new accounts for Airbnb Ireland UC show that in spite of the $1.37bn increase in revenues to $4.19bn, pre-tax profits declined by 19% from $121.49m to $98.44m or €90m.
The firm recorded post tax profits of $82.83m after incurring a corporation tax charge of $15.6m.
The directors state that the growth in revenues demonstrated the continued strong travel demand.
They state: "We saw significant growth with nights books exceeding pre-Covid-19 levels."
The Dublin based unit accounted for 50% of Airbnb’s global revenues of $8.4bn in 2022.
The Irish based firm’s profits declined as cost of sales increased by 55% rising from $2.1bn to $3.26bn while administrative expenses increased by 43% rising from $588.58m to $843.72m.
Airbnb set up its European HQ in Dublin in 2013 and numbers employed by the Irish based firm increased from 361 to 380.
In a post balance sheet event, a note attached to the accounts discloses that in March 2023, the company sub-let a portion of its Dublin office space.
The note states that this followed the firm reviewing its real estate lease arrangements.
This, according to the note, came after the company adopted in 2022 a Live and Work Anywhere policy which permits the majority of employees to work remotely.
Staff costs at the company last year increased from $53.35m to $56.48m. The company's wage costs of $35.5m and share based payments of $15.98m add to a combined $51.48m and average pay for the 380 workers is $135,473.
The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of $3.2m and impairment of tangible assets of $4.33m.
At the end of December last, AirBnb Ireland UC had shareholder funds of $91.38m. The company’s cash funds more than halved from $558.3m to $251.39m.
A note attached to the accounts states that "certain jurisdictions have alleged that the company’s operations violate laws or ordinances and in some cases have assessed fines or penalties".
The note adds that "while not anticipated based on current knowledge, adverse outcomes could materially impact the company’s ability to operate in certain jurisdictions in the future".
Airbnb was established in 2007 when two 'hosts' welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home, and has since grown to over 4 million hosts who have welcomed over 1.5bn guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe
Earlier this year, Airbnb said that spending linked to its platform represented 10.5% of all international tourism-related spending in Ireland in 2022.
Research commissioned by the short-term letting site values Airbnb's total contribution to Ireland’s gross domestic product at over €500m in 2022, with local businesses, shops and restaurants benefitting from visitors availing of Airbnb accommodation
The Irish Economic Impact Report was compiled by Oxford Economics and found that Airbnb supported almost 5,000 jobs across the country and accounted for 6% of all nights in paid accommodation in Ireland in 2022.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
