The Irish-owned Doyle Collection hotel chain has refinanced its €300 million-plus loans with AIB in what is thought to be one of the biggest refinancings of corporate debt here for some years.
The Irish Times has learned that the Doyle group agreed a deal with the State-controlled bank in March. The debt was due to be repaid in November of this year but the company has now extended this out to 2017.
It is not clear how much debt Doyle hotels has refinanced with AIB. Its gross debt stood at €331.2 million at the end of 2011. When cash is stripped out, the net debt was €303 million.
However, in recent months, the group has sold three of its hotels in the US for a combined $149.5 million. It is not clear is any of these funds were used to repay debt to AIB.
Turnover up
Separately, latest accounts for Doyle Hotels (Holdings) Ltd show that it increased its turnover by 11 per cent in 2011 and returned to operating profit that year.
The accounts show that turnover rose to €111.4 million in 2011, up from €103.3 in the previous year.
Doyle Hotels posted an operating profit of €8.7 million in the year compared with a loss of €13.7 million in 2010.
Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and non-recurring items rose 23 per cent to €26.9 million.
Into the red
However, the company was dragged into the red by an interest charge of €12.3 million relating to its debts. When other items were factored in, the company closed the year with a loss of just under €2.2 million. The company made a repayment of €10 million on its debt during the year.
These results applied to the operation of 11 hotels by the Doyle group in 2011. Its portfolio now stands at eight hotels in Dublin, Cork, London and Washington DC following the recent sales of the Back Bay in Boston, and its Marriott Courtyard and Normandy hotels in Washington DC.
The Doyle group took a charge of €2.54 million in 2011 relating to redundancies at the five-star Westbury Hotel in Dublin. The company took a charge of €2.5 million relating to a revaluation of investment properties during the period.
The accounts also disclose a payment of €600,000 to former chief executive Bill Walshe following his departure in July 2011.
