Portland Hotels reports healthy rise in profit and turnover
Portland Hotels, the owner and operator of five properties in Scotland, has reported am increase of 4.8% in turnover and 13% rise in profits.
Turnover for the company's last financial year, just reported, to 29 January 2012 was £14.3m, with profit before tax of £1.6m.
Colin Paton, chief executive of Portland Hotels, described the company's performance during 2011/12 as "impressive".
"Like-for-like sales have increased by almost 5% in an economy which is at best ‘bumping along the bottom'. This has enabled us to outperform the provincial UK hotel industry with a healthy increase in pre-tax profits.
"Sales performance across both business and leisure channels has been pleasing - with the ‘staycation' undoubtedly boosting the leisure market. Despite challenging market conditions, a softening of the European leisure market, some airlines removing capacity and the recent higher inflation, with a strong revenue management focus we have again succeeded in driving sales up."
Paton said that Portland had invested £700,000 in its portfolio of hotels - the Huntingtower, in Perth; Best Western Edinburgh City; Best Western Edinburgh Capital (pictured); Glasgow Pond; and the Speedbird Inn, Aberdeen - bringing its total investment in the estate, excluding acquisitions, to £7.5m over the past eight years.
Despite the company's eagerness to expand, Paton explained that the euro crisis, combined with a lack of quality investment opportunities, had resulted in the group remaining static in size.
By Janet Harmer
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