Solid start to year for De Vere

Hotel company De Vere Group has reported a solid start to the year, with turnover up to £129.2m in the 26 weeks to 1 April, a 26% rise compared with the same period last year.

The group's like-for-like pre-tax profit fell by 23%, to £12.6m from £16.3m. But after exceptionals in 2000 of £7m, has been taken into account, the pre-tax profit actually rose by 26%

Across the 21 De Vere-branded hotels, turnover rose by 24.5% to £82.3m. Occupancy was up by 1.2 percentage points to 72.1% and revenue per available room (revpar) rose by 7.1% to £54.56.

Chief executive Paul Dermody said De Vere Hotels would continue to grow but that there was no set timetable.

He said: "We will grow by selective acquisitions when appropriate properties come up, but we have nothing in mind at the moment."

In December, the company bought its first London hotel, the Cavendish, for £60m.

A £10m refurbishment is under way and is due for completion by August 2002.

Turnover for the group's Village Leisure hotels rose by 17.6% to £28.6m, and revpar grew by 3.1% to £40.31. Like-for-like occupancy was up by 0.4 percentage points to 82.5%.

At the half-year end, the company had 12 Village Leisure hotels. The 98-bedroom Villlage Coventry opened in January and the 100-bedroom Village Bury opens in August.

The 127-bedroom Village Newcastle will open in mid-2002.

Dermody said there were another four sites earmarked as Village hotels, two in the South and two in the Midlands.