Ireland’s largest nursing home groups, mostly now in foreign ownership, posted a fourth straight year of losses in 2024 as they continued to pay the price for a flurry of deals completed before interest rates spiked, a continuing gap in Government funding for beds in private and public facilities, and rising running costs.
Four of the five largest providers in the State are now French-owned, following a slew of takeover deals between 2017 and 2021, when interest rates on debt were much lower. Each racked up losses between 2021 and 2024, according to accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.
Emeis, the French nursing home group formerly known as Orpea that entered the Irish market in 2020 through the takeover of the TLC Nursing Home portfolio and followed up with further deals, reported a €20.4 million net loss last year, according to a filing this week.
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While this was down from the €70 million shortfall recorded in 2023, it brought accumulated losses for the business, which featured in an RTÉ Investigates programme in June on nursing care standards, to more than €243 million over the past four years.
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Emeis Ireland is the largest private operator in the sector, with 2,318 beds across 25 homes. While the company last year reversed €23.2 million of impairment charges previously taken against its assets, this was more than offset by amortisation of goodwill and depreciation charges. It also paid €28.8 million in interest on €543 million of loans from its French parent.
Unlike several operators that entered the market in recent times, it owns most of its properties. Its French parent required a bailout in 2023, led by a state-owned investment firm, in the wake of a scandal over residents’ mistreatment in its home market.
Mowlam Healthcare, the second-largest player, with more than 2,000 beds across 32 homes, is an unlimited company and does not publish its results. It is the only Irish-owned group among the top five, controlled by Dublin-based Cardinal Capital Group.
A holding company over CareChoice, the third-largest player, which was bought by French investment firm InfraVia Capital Partners in 2017, posted an €8.24 million net loss last year, bringing its combined shortfall over four years to €50.4 million. It also had €288 million of bank and group company loans at the end of 2023 – leaving it with €59.2 million more of stated liabilities than assets.
CareChoice highlighted in its financial statement, filed in recent weeks, that “the ongoing challenge around the cost of care delivery and inadequacy of National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) rates remains a pressing concern for our group and the sector at large”. The NTPF runs the Fair Deal scheme that pays for much of the costs of residential care.
Nursing Homes Ireland, the sector lobby group, said in a pre-budget submission in August that the average Fair Deal rate in Ireland is about €1,232 a week, some €737 less than public rates.
“The current funding model does not fully reflect the true cost of delivering safe, personal-centred care, particularly in light of inflationary pressures, increased regulatory requirements, and rising wage expectations,” CareChoice said in its report.
The parent company over Virtue, the fourth-largest operator, posted a net loss of €10.9 million last year. It has been 70 per cent owned by French-based elderly care specialist Emera Group since 2020 and has racked up €18.6 million of losses since then.
French care home group DomusVi, the fifth main operator, made its entry in January 2021 by acquiring Trinity Care. Its Irish unit reported a €4.96 million loss last year, bringing losses for its first four years in the market to €16.9 million.
