Gresham Hotel Group today reported a €958,000 loss for its interim period to August 1st this year, compared with a loss of €6 million in the same period a year earlier.
When exceptional items are stripped out, operating profits fell from €4 million to €1.8 million. The Group reported sales of €26.80 million against €27.45 million last year.
Despite the narrowing in interim losses the Group said it continues to operate in a challenging environment with limited visibility due to a shortening in booking patterns.
It said it expects that the performance in the second half of the year will be ahead of the same period last year.
It added the difficult trading conditions have been compounded by increases in operating costs.
The Group has experienced an increase in its insurance premiums of 87 per cent on the previous year and labour costs during the same period have increased by 5 per cent.
As a result it has decided to suspend the interim dividend at this time.
It said it is to defer the decision on the level of dividend until such time as the profits for the full year are known with certainty.
Earnings per share before exceptionals were 0.0013 cents against 0.0169 for the same period last year.
PA