QHotels is forecasting further improved sales figures and earnings for 2015 following the purchase of six former De Vere golf resorts at the end of last year.
The leading luxury hotel chain’s acquisition of the six sites, including Oulton Hall in West Yorkshire, Slaley Hall in Northumberland and Mottram Hall in Cheshire, in November 2014 elevated the group to its new status of being the UK’s largest golf resort operator.
In accounts announced for the year to 28 December 2014, QHotels Holdings Ltd, which runs 27 four and five-star hotels across the UK, upped sales and earnings by 7.4 per cent to £132.8 million following an improvement in the regional hospitality market.
Income from accommodation, food, beverage, room hire, spa and leisure all increased substantially year-on-year and was reflective of a broader recovery in the UK provincial hotel sector, which QHotels said had started to show positive trends from the second half of 2013.
And, with trading in the early part of 2015 maintaining the upward trend, with the EBIDTA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) for the period up by 11 per cent to £3.1m, QHotels is anticipating that the economies of scale arising from the enlarged group size will generate “substantial benefits” in the future.
Latest figures released by QHotels for the golf sector for 2015 revealed that profits have risen by 23 per cent so far compared to last year. Membership revenues have increased by 12 per cent at the group’s original five resorts on the back of the launch of the new QFairway club initiative this spring while more than 2,000 extra room nights have been sold at the six new venues compared to 2014.
A spokesman for QHotels said: “2015 is an exciting year in our development, having successfully integrated six prestigious former De Vere Hotels into the group, including Oulton Hall in West Yorkshire, Slaley Hall in Northumberland and Mottram Hall in Cheshire.
“We are also investing significantly in our hotels, improving facilities for conference, events and leisure guests through refurbished rooms and upgraded free Wi-Fi facilities to cope with the high demand associated with the growth in mobile devices. As we further invest in the group to deliver the best possible experience for our guests, we expect the strong performance of our hotels to continue.
“Overall, the UK hotel sector is showing healthy growth and demonstrating good returns, and that naturally generates interest in investment. In periods like this it’s absolutely normal for investors such as ours to look at the market and the opportunities that exist.”
The AA Hotel Group of the Year, the multi-award-winning, four and five-star QHotels golf collection offers championship-standard courses in 11 unique resort locations across England and Scotland.
QHotels www.qhotels.co.uk
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