The €365m Center Parcs holiday resort in Co Longford has this year recorded average weekly revenues of €1.85m as operating profits increased by 9% to €29.4m.
In another record year for the business, new accounts filed by Center Parcs Ireland Ltd show that revenues at the Co Longford resort rose by 10.6% from €87.4m to €96.7m in the 12 months to the end of April 18th this year.
Pre-tax profits declined by 51% from €19.8m to €9.7m due mainly to net finance expenses increasing by 170% from €7.2m to €19.5m this year.
The Center Parcs Irish business achieved the increase in revenues and operating profits on the back of occupancy rates of 98.7%.
The occupancy rate compares to an average occupancy rate of 97% across the six village resort strong Center Parcs UK and Ireland group.
The Irish business over the 12 months paid out dividends of €152.7m and the high dividend payout was made possible by the firm’s balance sheet receiving an equity injection of €101m during the year.
Next month, construction work is due to commence on a €100m expansion of the village at Co Longford with the addition of 198 lodges and luxury treehouses, which will increase the resort’s capacity to around 3,500 guests.
The stellar performance by the Irish business helped the Center Parcs UK and Ireland group to its best ever Earnings Before Tax Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA) performance of £310.5m in its 37 year history.
The accounts for the Irish business show that its adjusted EBITDA was €38.8m this year compared to €34.8m last year.
Center Parcs opened its first forest resort in the UK in 1987 and only opened Center Parcs Longford in 2019.
The UK and Irish business achieved combined revenues of £704m this year on the back of 2.3m guests and Longford Center Parcs contributed 12% of group revenues.
The best performing Center Parcs was its Sherwood Forest operation which recorded revenues of £129.2m based on its 4,806 capacity which compares to Longford’s guest capacity of 2,736.
A statement attached to the group accounts states that “the group has traded exceptionally well delivering another year of record profits”.
The accounts for the Irish operation show that a change in accounting policy resulted in a €115.4m revaluation gain for the firm which resulted in property, plant and equipment having a net book value of €365.8m at the end of April 18th 2024.
The directors’ report shows that operating profits increased as the Irish firm’s RevPAL (Rent per available lodge night) increased from €275.55 last year to €298.80 this year.The company recorded a post tax profit of €9.1m after incurring a corporation charge of €600,000.
Numbers employed at the Longford Village resort this year increased by 68 from 1,233 to 1,301 as staff costs increased by 12% from €24.9m to €27.9m.
The operating profit of €27m this year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €7.9m.
The company had accumulated profits of €69.4m at the end of April 18th this year. The firm’s cash funds decreased from €50.9m to €11.9m this year.
Last year, Canadian owners of the Center Parcs resorts in Ireland and the UK, private equity group, Brookfield unsuccessfully tried to sell off the business.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
