Macdonald Hotels has reported that turnover grew 7% from £145.5m to £155.7m in the 12 months to April 2 boosted by events such as The Ryder Cup, Commonwealth Games, The Open and the Farnborough Air Show.
The group, which has 55 hotels and resorts in the UK, Ireland, Spain and Portugal, saw pperating profit rise by 11% from £15.3m to £16.9m.
Pre-tax profit dipped from £3.63m to £2.7m which the company said was mainly because of higher interest charges as a result of the accounting treatment of a lease.
A 6% uplift was seen in average room rate during a year when the company spent around £16m on its estate. Investment included refurbishing 261 bedrooms at the Aviemore Resort and effectively completing an 18-month revamp of the offering there.
The privately owned business also managed to shave around £96m off its net debt in its most recent financial year. The firm sold land at the Macdonald Botley Park Hotel, Southampton for £58m.
Also, the Macdonald Old England Hotel at Windermere and the Macdonald Marine Hotel in North Berwick were sold to business entities controlled by the Macdonald family. They continue to be run by Macdonald Hotels with the company having an option to buy them back.
Total net debt should stand at around £204m at the end of this calendar year, having been above £300m as recently as March.
The company plans to spend around £14m in its estate in the current financial year but is not looking to buy any more hotels.
Macdonald is also moving forward with extensions at The Rusacks in St Andrews, which overlooks the 18th green of The Old Course, and the Compleat Angler in Marlow.
The company employs around 4,000 and says the introduction of the Living Wage will cost it around £1.1m initially.
On current trading, like-for-like sales are said to be up by 6% with profits 7% ahead. Occupancy and average room rates have also increased.