Dalata Hotel Group | 2021 AGM Statement & Trading and Development Update
2021 AGM Statement
Trading and Development Update
ISE: DHG LSE: DAL
Dublin and London | 29 April 2021: Dalata Hotel Group plc (“Dalata” or the “Company”), the largest hotel operator in Ireland with a growing presence in the United Kingdom, is holding its AGM today at 11:30 am BST at Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin 2, D02 YT21.
At the AGM, John Hennessy, Chairman of Dalata, will make the following statement:
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on our business and daily lives. Since the start of January, our hotels have been closed to the general public, serving customers related to essential services only. For the first quarter of 2021, occupancies[i] at our hotels were 14% in Dublin, 16% in Regional Ireland and 13% in the UK. We continue to minimise the impact of lower revenues through proactive cost control and availing of government support. For the first quarter the Adjusted EBITDA loss was €3.6 million.
We continue to protect our strong liquidity. The Company had cash and undrawn debt facilities of €272 million at the end of March 2021. As a result of careful cash flow management, the cash outflow of €21 million for the first quarter of 2021 is in line with our expectations.
We recently announced two Senior Management appointments. Dermot Crowley is to succeed Pat McCann as Chief Executive Officer and Carol Phelan is to become Group Chief Financial Officer. I am delighted we were able to fill these positions internally in keeping with our strategy to develop our people and promote from within. They bring a wealth of experience and expertise to their new roles and their extensive knowledge of the business and our culture will be vital as the business recovers from the impact of Covid-19 and positions itself for further growth. Our ability to appoint leaders from within reflects the strength of the team we have built, a process which has been led by Pat McCann, our founding CEO.
We look forward to welcoming guests back to our hotels over the coming months. We expect hotels in the UK to re-open fully in the middle of May in line with the timetable set out by the UK government. The near-term outlook in Ireland is more uncertain but we remain encouraged by the acceleration of the vaccine roll-out. The Irish government have yet to announce when hotels can re-open to non-essential customers. We will re-open to all guests as soon as restrictions allow.
We continue to progress our development pipeline of close to 3,300 rooms. We expect to open three new hotels before the end of this year. We have appointed the management teams and they are busy getting ready to successfully launch these hotels. Four more hotels are due to open in the first half of 2022.
While the protection of our people, our business and our cash remain our top priority, we are excited about the long term prospects of the Company. Our portfolio of hotels is well-invested and we have built a solid foundation for future growth. The Company’s asset backed balance sheet remains robust and we have enhanced our reputation with developers and institutional landlords.
We are repeating the independent audit of our health and safety practices by Bureau Veritas[ii] ahead of general re-opening. This independent accreditation of our Dalata Keep Safe Programme will reassure our guests as they return to our hotels.
Our people remain positive and motivated and are ready and waiting to deliver the excellent experience our guests are accustomed to when they stay at a Dalata hotel.”
Development pipeline update
Dalata continues to progress the development pipeline of close to 3,300 rooms located in Dublin, London, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol and Brighton. Maldron Hotel Glasgow and Clayton Hotel Manchester are scheduled to open in July and November 2021 respectively. Maldron Hotel Manchester and Clayton Hotel Bristol are expected to open in January 2022 and Clayton Hotel Glasgow is on track to open in Q2 2021. The phased return of construction in Ireland has commenced with residential construction re-opening on 12 April and hotel construction expected to start in May. As a result, we expect the Samuel Hotel and Maldron Hotel Merrion Road to open in Q4 2021 and Q2 2022 respectively. Planning permission has been approved for Maldron Hotel Croke Park in Dublin with the hotel on track to open in Q1 2024.
AGM
The Company is conducting the AGM in accordance with the Irish Government’s Covid-19 related public health measures and public health advice. Shareholders can remotely access the AGM, ask questions and vote at the AGM via a virtual meeting platform provided by Lumi AGM UK Limited. This can be done by accessing the meeting website: https://web.lumiagm.com and using the meeting ID 146-521-744. The results of the resolutions relating to the AGM will be published later today. Further information relating to the AGM is published on the Company’s website: https://dalatahotelgroup.com/investors/shareholder-centre#agm
