The company that manages Denis O’Brien’s Quinta do Lago golf resort in the Algarve recorded a profit of £1.37 million (€1.56m) last year after making “a strong recovery” with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions.
Accounts for UK-registered Algarve Golf Courses Ltd, show that a subsidiary that manages the complex in Portugal – Sociedade do Golfe da Quinta do Lago – made the profit in the year to the end of December 2021. The £1.37 million profit followed a loss of £3.7 million in 2020 – a positive swing of £5.07 million.
The company closed the financial period with capital and reserves of £13.85 million.
The directors of Algarve Golf Courses Ltd noted that the Sociedade do Golfe da Quinta do Lago “has had a strong recovery following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions which has continued into 2022″.
Mr O’Brien acquired the Quinta do Lago resort in 1998, and has expanded it substantially in the years since. It comprises three golf courses, hotels, a sports campus and residential units.
Algarve Golf Courses had net assets itself of £7.24 million at the end of 2021 – unchanged from the end of 2020. The directors noted that it did not make a profit in 2020 as it did not trade. It paid no dividend for the year.
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Separately, accounts for another Denis O’Brien-owned entity, Catalunya Golf Ltd, show that it recorded a pretax loss of £2.19 million during the year. The entity is a holding company for companies engaged in the ownership and management of golf courses. Its directors noted that both the level of business and the year-end financial position were satisfactory.
The company’s loss arose from the foreign exchange conversion of its underlying investment rather than from trading. The £2.19 million loss followed a pretax profit of £1.7 million in 2020, with the latter arising from a foreign exchange gain.
The directors state that the company’s subsidiary “has had a strong recovery following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions which has continued into 2022″.
The subsidiary, PGA Golf de Caldas SA, is engaged in property development, and recorded profits of £2.18 million last year. At the end of last year it had shareholder funds of £14.5 million.