Dromoland Castle Hotel sees profits jump to €1.29m

The owner of the five-star Dromoland Castle hotel in Co Clare saw profits surge last year as turnover climbed from €17.3 million to €19.5 million.

Accounts recently filed with the Companies Registration Office show Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd, recorded a pre-tax profit of €1.29 million for the 12 months ending December 31st, 2015. This compares with a €324,889 profit for the preceding year.

The firm’s operating profit jumped from €491,314 to €1.44 million over the same period.

Profits carried forward totalled €12.4 million with net assets rising to €22.8 million from €21.9 million.

As well as Dromoland Castle, the company also operates the Inn at Dromoland which it acquired in 2012 for €2.1 million. Among the famous guests to have stayed at the castle are George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and the King of Spain Juan Carlos I.

Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd, which employs 114 people, saw staff costs, including wages and salaries, rise to €7.77 million last year from €7.18 million a year earlier.

Loans and borrowings declined from €4.57 million to €3.38 million.

The accounts show consultancy fees for management services from Hallmark Management Limited, a company controlled by Dromoland managing director Mark Nolan, totalled €445,378.

The financial manager of the Dromoland Castle hotel Orla Horgan earlier this month initiated a High Court action aimed at preventing her dismissal. She is seeking an injunction preventing her employer, Dromoland Castle Holdings Ltd, terminating her employment as finance manager.

Ms Horgan claimed in a sworn statement she was being made “ a scapegoat for fraud at the hotel” due to alleged suspicious transactions carried out by another employee in the finance department.