The Ritz: Losses continue at iconic London hotel
London’s iconic Ritz hotel has now lost more than £75m since it last turned a profit, it has been revealed.
The luxury London hotel has posted a pre-tax loss of £10m for 2023, accounts filed more than five months late with Companies House show.
The latest figure comes after The Ritz posted a loss of £16.5m for 2022, £32m for 2021 and £27.3m in 2020.
The last time the hotel reported a pre-tax profit was the £2.4m it achieved in 2019.
The delayed accounts for 2023 also show that turnover at The Ritz remained static at £36m in the year.
The hotel is now expected to file its accounts for 2024 by the end of September this year.
However, it has not submitted its accounts on time to Companies House since June 2022.
The five-star hotel was acquired by Qatari tycoon Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri from the billionaire Barclay brothers for around £700m in March 2020.
Despite the continuing losses, the hotel paid out a dividend of £255,000 in the year.
How The Ritz compares to luxury rivals
A statement signed off by the board said: “The level of business and financial position of The Ritz Hotel for 2023 was in line with the expectations.
“It is the company’s intention to continue to increase its revenues by expanding its existing client base.
“The extensive development project that started in 2020 continued throughout the year.
“The future development of the project also includes the complete refurbishment of the existing building including guest rooms and suites and food and beverage outlets.”
In August 2024, Morning Wire reported that sales at Claridge’s Hotel surged by more than 20 per cent in 2023 thanks to a “strong” recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and the completion of a major expansion project.
The five-star London hotel reported a turnover of £119.3m for the financial year, up from the £98.1m it achieved in 2022. The hotel’s pre-tax profit also jumped from £2.2m to £7.2m.
In the same month, Morning Wire also reported that The Savoy Hotel had been feeling the impact of an increase in competition in London’s luxury hotel market after its pre-tax loss widened during 2023.
The hotel has reported a loss of £17.9m for the financial year, having also made a pre-tax loss of £12m in 2022.
The last time The Savoy Hotel made a pre-tax profit was the £5.9m it reported in the six months to the end of 2006.