Five Swallow hotels remain unsold as Chasley bid stalls

Swallow Hotels, the hotels subsidiary of Vaux Group, is still struggling to seal a deal for the five hotels it put up for sale more than a year ago.

The buyer, Chasley Hotels, has been in the wings since the second half of last year, but the deal has repeatedly stalled.

Peter Catesby, managing director of Swallow, would only comment that negotiations were continuing. "I'm not worried, as they are very profitable hotels," he claimed.

In the 24 weeks to 15 March, Swallow increased profits by 28% to £11.5m, accounting for more than half of Vaux Group's trading profit.

In addition to two hotel development projects, in Liverpool and Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Swallow is seeking a number of other greenfield opportunities. Mr Catesby believed he could secure one or two this year.

Vaux Group saw its pre-tax profits climb 14.4% to £15.2m. The managed pubs division increased trading profit by 13.7% to £4.7m.

During the period it acquired two sites, in Middlesbrough and Sheffield, which will be developed into new units. Like-for-like food sales in the managed houses were up 7.3%.