Funding

Dalata agrees debt package

Dalata has agreed an extended debt package which will see its revolving credit facility increased by €39m to €364m until September next year.

The company said that its cash utilisation in the second quarter had been better than expected and that it was “encouraged” by the pace of bookings over the past week.

Under the revised agreement, previous covenants comprising net debt to Ebitda and interest cover will not be tested again until June 2022. Instead the company has agreed a net debt to value covenant and a minimum liquidity test, whereby must have a minimum of €50m available to it in cash and/or an unutilised amount of the revolving credit facility.

At the end of June Dalata had cash resources of €103m and further undrawn committed debt facilities of €72m. The undrawn committed debt facilities had increased to €111m as a result of the increase in the RCF.

The company has now reopened 42 of its hotels in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and England. Two final hotels, the Clayton Hotel Cardiff and the Maldron Hotel Belfast International Airport, were expected to reopen on 11 July and 1 August respectively.

Dermot Crowley, deputy CEO business development & finance, said: “Throughout the crisis we continued to maintain very strong relationships with our banking partners. Our institutional landlords also continue to actively support Dalata and remain committed to our long-term partnerships. 

“We are positioning the business for a successful recovery and to look for growth opportunities that may arise out of the crisis. Our key strengths continue to be our asset backed balance sheet and strong liquidity, our experienced management team, our culture and people, and our record of identifying and securing opportunities in a crisis. We will remain very focused and energised in meeting the challenges ahead and exploiting the opportunities that arise.”