DONALD Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in South Ayrshire has posted multimillion pound losses for the fourth successive year in its first full 12 months of operation after an extensive redevelopment.
Companies House filings show that SLC Turnberry’s parent company Golf Recreation Scotland was in the red by almost £3.4 million in 2017.
READ MORE: Has presidency dulled the polish on Donald Trump's glitzy hotel empire?
In the previous year, it posted losses of £17.6m after the resort was closed for six months for redevelopment, bringing the total losses in the three years since he took over the resort to nearly £33m.
Trump stepped down as a director in January last year after becoming US president and handed control of his business empire to his sons. Despite the losses, one of them Eric – a director – remained bullish in the latest set of accounts, describing the figures as “one of the most robust financial results” at Turnberry in a decade.
Donald Trump opened Turnberry when a mere presidential candidate
“Having seen a decline in turnover of 22% in 2016 due to the resort only being open for six months, 2017 saw an increase in revenue year over year of 70%,” he said.
“It is expected that revenue will continue to increase in subsequent years as the property is re-established as an industry-leading resort.”
Last December, it emerged that Trump Turnberry would no longer qualify for a controversial tax break.
A change in the Scottish Government’s budget last year removed the resort from a business rates relief scheme.
In July this year, Trump and his wife Melania stayed at Turnberry during a private leg of their visit to the UK.
They stayed for two nights and Trump played two rounds of golf during the visit.
The accounts posted at Companies House show the cost of sales rose from £6.9m to £9.5m last year and its wage bill from £5.4m to £7.1m as staff numbers increased from 295 to 313. Turnberry remains reliant on Trump for its finances, according to the figures, with interest-free loans of £107m owed to him.
The latest accounts for the company responsible for Trump’s controversial first Scottish golf course – Trump International Golf Links Scotland – at Balmedie, in Aberdeenshire, have not yet been published.
Companies House notes that they were due by September 30. The resort made a loss of £1.4m in 2016 and, like Turnberry, has yet to turn a profit under Trump’s ownership.
Eric is a director of both firms and, in a report accompanying the accounts, said his father’s property firm was committed to Turnberry for the long haul.
“The directors believe that the resort will return to profitability in the short to medium term,” he said.
“The Trump Organisation remains fully committed to the resort and further redevelopments are ongoing.”
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