Dalata Hotel sinks into red at the half-year stage, announces placing

Dalata Hotel posted a big interim loss in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which more than halved its sales over the period.

On a reported basis, Ireland's largest hotel group said that its sales plummeted by 60% to €80.8m, pushing it to a post-IFRS 16 loss before tax of £70.9m or -13.1 cents in adjusted basic per share terms.

Its revenue per available room fared even worse, falling from €88.48 in the comparable year ago period to €32.69, as occupancy fell from 80.2% to 34.3%.

However, at period end, the company was sitting on cash resources of roughly €110m with undrawn committed debt facilities of approximately €111m.

Indeed, cash and available facilities in fact increased by €13m from their December 2019 level to reach approximately €175m.

Leverage measured as a proportion of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortisation however jumped to 7.4 times on a post IFRS 16 basis.

Separately, the company announced the launch of a pre-emptive placing representing 19.9% of its equity via an accelerated bookbuild, led by brokers Davy and Berenberg.

Management also announced the signing of leases for two new hotels, in Brighton and Manchester.

The funds would allow the hotelier "to ensure it is in a strong financial position", allowing it to capitalise on lease opportunities, prepare against a more prolonged impact from the novel coronavirus and begin developing its hotel in Shoreditch, London.

"The Group believes that global tourism will see a strong resurgence in the medium term, and that Dalata will be well placed to grow market share in a dislocated marketplace with a strengthened balance sheet."