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Dalata makes good progress as development plans progress
Ireland's largest hotel operator Dalata Hotel Group announced its results for the year ended 31 December on Tuesday, reporting revenue growth of 19.9% to 348.5m.
The AIM-traded firm said its adjusted EBITDA was ahead 23.3% year-on-year at 104.9m, while its profit before tax rose 75.3% to 77.3m.
Basic earnings per share rocketed ahead 94.8% to 37.2 euro cents, while adjusted diluted earnings per share were up 42.5% at 37.9 cents.
The Dalata board reported strong revenue per available room (RevPAR) performance across its three regions, with group RevPAR up 10.4% to 88.51.
It also saw continued improvement in its segments EBITDAR margin, increasing from 41.4% to 42.9%.
Dalata now had a total pipeline of 2,200 rooms, the board highlighted, with five new hotels and four major hotel extensions under construction.
A total of four new hotels were also in the planning process, with Dalata adding that all projects were on time and within budget.
The company spent 129m on hotel acquisitions during the year.
Its balance sheet was also continuing to strengthen, with hotel assets now totalling almost 1bn, and the board reporting a net debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.4x.
Dalata also made a net upward property revaluation gain of 52.1m.
Additionally, the Dalata board announced its intention to begin paying dividends from 2018 onwards on Tuesday.
It said it had adopted a progressive dividend policy, with the payout based on a percentage of profit after tax which was expected to be in the range of 20% to 30%.
An interim dividend would be declared with the interim results in September.
"2017 was another exciting time for Dalata and I am delighted with the progress we have made," said Dalata group CEO Pat McCann.
"The team at Dalata have delivered another year of strong earnings growth and met our target to announce 1,200 new rooms per year."
Looking ahead, McCann said the company was set to complete "significant" extensions at Clayton Hotel Dublin Airport in May, Maldron Hotel Sandy Road, Galway in June, Clayton Hotel Ballsbridge in August, and Maldron Hotel Parnell Square in December.
He noted that the company received full planning permission in January at Tara Towers Hotel to develop a new hotel branded Maldron Hotel Merrion Road, along with 69 residential units.
Dalata had begun the process to select a development partner, McCann confirmed.
"We will also continue to deliver on our promise of announcing 1,200 new rooms per year.
"Our development team are actively looking for new sites located in our twenty target cities across the United Kingdom.
"I am very excited about the quantity and quality of opportunities that are coming our way at present."