THE TRAVELODGE hotel chain have posted pretax profits of more than €1.2 million for 2008 in abridged accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office.
Smorgs (Ireland) Limited, the company which trades as the Travelodge chain in Ireland, posted pretax profits for the 12-month period ending December 31st, 2008, of €1.26 million, down over €500,000 on the previous year.
Travelodge Ireland's tangible fixed assets stood at €7.1 million at the end of 2008 while its total assets less liabilities stood at €21 million.
The company employed a monthly average of 135 workers in 2008, an increase of 10 employees on the previous year.
The total cost of wages paid out by the company in 2008 was €3.1 million.
In the company's notes to the abridged accounts it is noted that Smorgs Limited entered into a lease agreement with Russki Developments in May 2008 to lease the Dublin Airport Hotel in Ballymun for €600,000 a year.
However, under a put/call option agreement, Smorgs has the ability to buy the property between October 2013 and October 2015 at an agreed price of €14 million from BBT Developments.
The directors of the company noted that they "are of the opinion" that the company will exercise its rights under the option in accordance with the terms and agreements of this agreement.
The Irish chain of the Travelodge hotel and restaurant portfolio was taken over in 2004 by former Jurys Doyle executives Séamus McGowan and Richard O'Sullivan at a cost of €22.5 million.
The pair purchased eight Travelodge hotels and five Little Chef restaurants. They have since expanded their portfolio to 11 hotels, four of which are located in Dublin, two in Limerick, and one each in Belfast, Derry, Galway, Waterford and Cork. The Little Chef restaurants have been franchised out.
The company's latest hotel, in Castletroy, Limerick, opened in June of this year.
The hotel chain operates a low-cost business model cutting out frills and extras traditionally associated with hotel stays including items such as toiletries, hair-dryers and bath mats.
