Amid all the Quinn grimness, a glimmer of positivity emerged yesterday with news that the Slieve Russell Hotel in Cavan is holding its own, sort of at least.
New accounts for Slieve Russell Hotel Ltd show its directors are expecting it to be cashflow-positive for this year and to remain so into 2013.
It’s no mean feat for a rural hotel in this climate and might act as a counterbalance to worries that taking Seán Quinn’s businesses out of his hands would lead to their ruin.
Accounts for last year show that the hotel, now under the control of share receiver Kieran Wallace, had an operating profit of €5.7 million, up from €1.3 million in 2010.
This came on turnover of €13.3 million, which was more or less steady on the previous year.
The profit owed much, however, to the waiver of obligations due to other Quinn Group companies. These waivers, which were enacted on a reciprocal basis, benefited the Slieve Russell balance sheet by €4.8 million.
The real shadow over the hotel’s performance comes with the bald fact that at the end of last year, liabilities at the Slieve Russell exceeded assets by almost €49 million. Unsurprisingly, the company’s auditors flag “material uncertainties” about the its ability to continue as a going concern.
A similar picture emerges over at Quinn Group Hotels, the company that controls hotels in Prague. Again, cashflow was positive for the first half of this year, and directors are expecting this to continue for all of 2012.
Based on ongoing discussions with its bankers (IBRC – who else?), the directors have a “reasonable” belief that the group will have “adequate” resources to continue to operate for the “foreseeable” future. It isn’t exactly enthusiasm, but it’s getting there on an operational basis after an operating loss of €6.2 million last year. Lurking in the background again is a big deficit – €175 million this time.
This business, which was controlled by Ciara Quinn, is also now run by the share receiver.