The extent of profits earned by the previous owners of the Citywest hotel in Saggart, west Dublin, from housing refugees has been disclosed for the first time.
The ex-owners, Tetrarch Capital, have filed late accounts for the hotel revealing that the operation posted operating profits of €17.5 million in 2022, reports Breaking News.
In August this year, the State finalised the €148.25 million acquisition of the Citywest facility. Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration Jim O’Callaghan said at the time that, compared to the costs under the prior leasing arrangement for Citywest, the savings to the State will recoup the purchase price within four years.
He said that with the purchase, the State is estimated to save €1 billion over 25 years compared to the model for leasing the site, while also delivering a permanent State asset, reports Breaking News.
In October, rioters clashed with gardaí outside the Citywest International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS) hub following an alleged sexual assault by a 26-year-old man on a girl aged 10 at Garter Lane in Saggart on October 20th.
Department of Integration figures indicate that Tetrarch Capital’s Cape Wrath Hotel UC received €70.8 million in 2024 for accommodating International Protection Applicants (IPAs) and Ukrainian refugees at Citywest, reports Breaking News.
This came after Cape Wrath Hotel UC received €53.7 million in 2023 for housing IPAs and Ukrainians at Citywest.
However, the actual profits made by the Citywest company from hosting refugees remained undisclosed until now, reports Breaking News.
The hotel signed a contract with the State in June 2022 to offer temporary housing for Ukrainians fleeing to Ireland.
The State has leased the 764-bed hotel and conference centre since 2020. It was first utilised as a Covid-19 testing and vaccination facility before being repurposed in 2022 as an accommodation and processing centre for asylum seekers and Ukrainian refugees, reports Breaking News.
Before its contracts with the State, Cape Wrath UC recorded losses in 2019, posting a pre-tax loss of €77,774 as revenues rose 6 per cent from €28.82 million to €30.52 million.
New accounts for Tetrarch Capital entity Alva Glen Investments Limited and Subsidiaries, which encompasses Cape Wrath UC, reveal that, due to the agreement to house Ukrainians, revenues at the Citywest hotel nearly tripled from €16.2 million in 2021 to €48.28 million in 2022, reports Breaking News.
The operation posted an operating profit of €17.5 million in 2022, in contrast to an operating loss of €798,801 in 2021.
The 2022 operating profit includes combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation charges of €4.13 million, reports Breaking News.
The group achieved a pre-tax profit of €14.7 million after paying interest charges of €2.64 million and recording a property write-down of €135,000.
The group posted a post-tax profit of €12.48 million after a corporation tax charge of €2.24 million, reports Breaking News.
The directors state that they consider the profit for the year to be satisfactory and the increase in revenues reflects the agreement to accommodate Ukrainians.
Employment at the company rose from 99 to 285 in 2022 as staff costs more than doubled from €3.1 million to €6.75 million, reports Breaking News.
The accounts were approved by the board in November 2023 but have only recently been filed with the Companies Registration Office.
Profits for 2023, 2024 and 2025 will become public when the accounts for those years are submitted to the Companies Office.
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