A deal with the State to operate hotel Covid-19 quarantine facilities helped the Tifco hotel group record pre-tax profits of €10.9m in 2021.

New accounts filed by Tifco Ltd show that the hotel group returned to profit after revenues more than doubled from €11.8m to €25.38m.

The pre-tax profit of €10.9m for 2021 followed a pre-tax loss of €1.17m for 2020 – a positive swing of €12.07m

Tifco is one of Ireland’s largest hotel groups. It operates the Crowne Plaza Hotels at Dublin Airport, Blanchardstown and Dundalk, the Hilton Hotel at Dublin Kilmainham, the Holiday Inn Express at Dublin Airport, Clontarf Castle and a collection of other hotels.

The hotel group secured a State hotel Covid-19 quarantine contract for the Crowne Plaza Dublin hotels.

Documents subsequently published by the Department of Health show that the official value of the initial three-month contract awarded to the Tifco hotel group to operate the quarantine system for visitors to Ireland was €5.4m.

In their report attached to the 2021 accounts, the directors state that “the provision of hotel quarantine services to the State contributed to the results for the year”.

They state that the group revenues of €25.38m for 2021 “were still well below 2019 revenues of €36.5m”.

The company secured a number of contracts from State bodies during 2021 and these contracts continued into 2022.

The directors state that “cost reduction plans were implemented by management in line with the reduced level of activity”.

They said they recognised that climate change may result in less international travel which will directly impact on the performance of the company.

While Government Covid-19 restrictions were removed in February 2022 and their hotels have experienced significantly improved demand, they say there remains some uncertainty on when business and leisure travel will return to pre-pandemic levels.

Numbers employed by Tifco increased from 183 to 250 and staff costs reduced from €3.1m to €2.6m.

The accounts state that the staff costs “are net of Government wage subsidy”.

The loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €3.54m.

At the end of 2021, the group’s shareholder funds totalled €129.08m that included accumulated profits of €21.79m.

The group’s cash funds increased from €2.74m to €7.59m.