Glenveagh delivered the 977 core units and finished the year with 1,105 core units contracted or reserved for future years (2020: 544) providing further evidence of the strong demand and maturing sales profile within the business.

The Group’s gross profit for the year amounted to €83.1 million (2020: €9.5 million) with an overall gross margin of 17.4% (2020: 4.1%).

The underlying core gross margin is 19.6% (2020: 14.1%) and reflects the impact of the Premier Inn forward fund land sale and associated development revenue, in addition to the sale of the residential and second hotels sites at Castleforbes. To allow for greater visibility and clarity on the Suburban business, the gross margin delivered on our active Suburban units was 17.5% with this margin expected to increase to in excess of 18.0% in 2022.

Our operating profit was €50.6 million (2020: loss of €12.7 million). The Group’s central costs for the year were €30.1 million (2020: €20.2 million), which along with €2.4 million (2020: €2.0 million) of depreciation and amortisation gives total administrative expenses of €32.5 million (2020: €22.2 million). Net finance costs for the year were €4.8 million (2020: €3.0 million), primarily reflecting interest on the drawn portion of our debt facility, commitment fees on the undrawn element of the facility and arrangement fees, which are being amortised over the life of the facility.

Overall, the Group delivered a profit after tax of €37.7 million (2020: Loss of €13.9 million) and an earnings per share of 4.5 cent (2020: Loss per share of 1.6 cent).