Dalata Hotel Group’s revenues inched 1 per cent higher in the first half of the year as the benefit of four UK openings in the middle of last year offset a dip in revenues per available room.
Revenues per available room (RevPAR) declined by 2 per cent during the first half, driven by a 3.5 per cent drop what Dalata called a “challenging” UK market. The figure was flat in the Republic, even as foreign visitors declined during the period.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 5 per cent to €102.5 million, as rising costs, including pay, put pressure on Dalata’s margins.
Oslo-based investment firm Eiendomsspar and Swedish hotel company Pandox, in which it owns an almost 25 per cent stake, agreed in July to buy Dalata for €1.4 billion. Investors in Dalata are set to vote on the matter at shareholder meetings on September 11th.
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“Having met with Pandox and Scandic on a number of occasions, I am confident that the acquisition will also be a very positive outcome for the people working within Dalata,” said Dalata chief executive Dermot Crowley. “I look forward to working in close partnership with our new owners to enable Dalata and its people to continue to grow and prosper within a larger international hotel company.”
The bid consortium has signed up Scandic Hotels Group, which is almost 15 per cent owned by Eiendomsspar and runs 264 hotels, mainly on short-term leases, to run the Dalata portfolio following a purchase.
Dalata, perhaps best known for its Clayton and Maldron hotel brands, operates a portfolio of 56 hotels in mostly central locations, about three-quarters of which are in Dublin and London. It comprises of freehold, leasehold and managed hotels. It has 5,500 employees.
The company opened four hotels in the UK in the middle of lasts year. It completed the acquisiton of the long-term leasehold of the Radisson Blu Hotel at Dublin Airport in June and plans to rebrand it as a Clayton hotel next year.
