Macdonald Hotels, Scotland's biggest hotel chain, has released financial results that show a £19.1m pre-tax loss, after the company accrued interest charges of £50m on its debts.
The debts followed the company's decision to go private in 2003, according to a report in The Herald.
The interest charges, which followed the privatisation, decimated a £31m operating surplus. The deficit would have been significantly worse if the company hadn't pocketed £8m from the sale of properties.
In the 11 months prior to Macdonald being taken private, it reported a £4.4m loss.
In September, Macdonald reported nearly £500m of bank debt, and a total income of only £189m.
The company refused to comment on the annual figures, although a spokesman admitted that the hotel group had experienced the same "difficult trading conditions" as the rest of the industry.
Macdonald Hotels is now owned by Skye Leisure Ventures, a coalition of the group's management team, headed by Donald Macdonald and the Bank of Scotland.
It has 60 owned, managed and joint-venture hotels throughout the UK.
By Emily Manson
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