Five-star Mount Juliet resort records €3.3m loss

The five-star hotel and golf resort Mount Juliet slipped into the red last year, chalking up a €3.3 million loss despite revenues staying broadly in line.

The 500-acre Co Kilkenny estate, which was acquired by Tetrarch (formerly Brehon Capital Partners) and businessman Emmet O’Neill in a €15 million deal in 2014, recorded revenues of €8.6 million last year. This compares to turnover of €8.74 million for 2016 and of €9.5 million in the first full year of operation under the new owners.

Recently filed accounts for Mount Juliet Unlimited Company show it swung to a €3.3 million pretax loss in 2017, having returned to profitability a year earlier when it bounced back from a €1.96 million loss to a €439,768 profit.

Tetrarch, which owns and manages a broad range of hotel assets, has invested millions in recent years upgrading the resort. Previously owned by the Mahony family's Killeen Group, the estate includes a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

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“The directors expect to continue to invest in the business in the coming year with a view to achieving managed growth and profitability in the group’s operations,” directors said in a note included with the accounts.

The company employed 102 staff last year with employee costs, including wages and salaries, totalling €4.9 million.

Pretax loss

Separately, Miro Hotel 2 Limited, an investment company connected with Tetrarch, recorded a €1.1 million pretax loss for the 18 months ending December 31st, 2017, on revenues of €8.07 million.

The company previously reported a €1.2 million loss on revenues of €3.56 million for the 10 months ending June 30th, 2016.

Miro Hotel 2 Limited earlier this year lodged plans for a €35 million development that includes a new 117-bed hotel and the redevelopment of the Royal Irish Automotive Club’s private members’ club on Dublin’s Dawson Street.

Tetrarch, which last week agreed a multimillion euro deal to acquire the 470-acre Howth Castle in Dublin, has a hospitality portfolio comprising 1,231 bedrooms including Powerscourt Hotel, Resort and Spa in Co Wicklow, the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre in Saggart, Co Dublin, and the Killashee House Hotel in Naas, Co Kildare.