The firm that operates the Convention Centre Dublin (CCD) last year enjoyed record pre-tax profits of €18.23m.
New accounts filed by Spencer Dock Convention Centre Dublin DAC show that pre-tax profits increased by 20% from €15.24m to €18.23m as revenues rose by 37% from €23.9m to €32.65m in 2023.
2023 was the first year at the 8,000 capacity centre without any Covid-19 restrictions and the centre sustained a cumulative pandemic revenue hit of €34.5m across 2020 and 2021.
In 2023, income from events increased by 67% to €25.6m as the venue in 2023 welcomed 159,396 people across 131 events. This compared to the 95,002 people who attended 109 events during 2022.
The company received the remaining revenues of €7m in unitary charge payments from the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the contract with the OPW includes performance criteria that must be met throughout the 25 year operational contract, which commenced in 2010.
Operating profits at the CCD firm increased by 121% from €3.8m to €8.45m and net interest payments received of €9.28m contributed to the pre-tax profits of €18.23m.
The chief executive of CCD, Stephen Meehan, said that the Convention Centre "had an excellent trading performance last year".
"People want to meet their peers and to attend face-to-face events, and there really is no substitute for the connections that can be made in person," Mr Meehan said.
"There is a strong demand for world-class venues such as The CCD and Dublin remains a very attractive location for international conferences and meetings," he added.
In June of last year, leading investor and active manager of core infrastructure assets, the John Laing Group, completed the purchase of the CCD from the Irish Infrastructure Fund.
The new accounts show that a dividend of €18m was paid out to its new owners in October 2023 and the €18m dividend was a 63% increase on the €11.1m dividend paid out in 2022.
Mr Meehan said trading for 2024 has also been strong and confirmed that so far this year, the CCD has hosted 91 events and welcomed 105,683 attendees.
"Demand into the future is very solid, and we already have strong interest levels in bookings for 2026 and 2027," he stated,
Shareholder funds totalled €13.59m, which included cash funds of €11.55m.
A related firm, Spencer Dock Centre Dublin (No 2) DAC, employs the staff that operates the centre and last year numbers employed remained static at 76.
Staff costs increased marginally from €4.49m to €4.97m. Pay to directors rose by 58% from €345,407 to €545,536.
The Convention Centre Dublin has delivered over 364,000 international conference delegates since it opened its doors in 2010.
Its schedule in place for 2025 includes the Pendulum Summit in January, Kaleidoscope International Conference in May, Kaseya DattoCon 2025 in June and the World Congress on Tobacco Control in June.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
