Trump’s golf course makes £1m loss... for 8th year in row
DONALD Trump’s golf resort in Aberdeenshire has made a loss of more than £1million for the eighth year in a row.
Accounts filed at Companies House for the US President’s course at the Menie Estate, near Balmedie, show it was £1.1million in the red.
Trump International Golf Links, which Mr Trump opened in 2012 following a battle with environmental campaigners, has made a loss every year since.
The resort, valued at £32million, saw its turnover rise from £2,767,463 in 2018 to £3,275,369 last year.
Mr Trump, who is due to leave office this month after losing the US Presidential election to Joe Biden, hailed the course as the greatest in the world and pledged to create 800 jobs at the resort.
The business employed 84 people in its eighth year of operation, paid £2.1million in total.
Mr Trump’s other Scots golf resort at Turnberry in Ayrshire made a loss of £10.7million for 2018. Its results for 2019 have not yet been published.
The Trump Organisation said the impact of the coronavirus pandemic had been ‘ unprecedented’ but it remained optimistic the Aberdeenshire resort can make a profit.
In his director report f or Trump International Golf Links, Mr Trump’s son, Eric, said: ‘The severity of the impact on the golf, leisure and hospitality industry is unprecedented and was not foreseen at the beginning of the pandemic.
‘The extent of the impact of Covid-19 on the company’s business and financial results will depend upon the duration and spread of the outbreak and the related impact on consumer confidence and spending, all of which are highly uncertain in the current environment.
‘ The directors believe the resort’s profitability will be positively impacted in the longterm as a result of operational adjustments enacted to address these risks.’
The company said: ‘ Trump International continues to rise in the world golf rankings and plays an important part in the global Trump portfolio.’
It posted a loss of £1,103,248 for 2019, compared to losses of £1,072,831 in 2018, £1,255,836 in 2017, £1,405,308 in 2016, £1,096,108 in 2015, £1,139,513 in 2014, £1.8million in 2013 and £1.7million in 2012.
Plans for a second golf course and 550 homes on the Menie Estate were approved by councillors last year. Branded the Trump Estate, the plans feature a range of properties f rom cottages to larger homes costing more than £1million.
Mr Trump, 74, resigned as a director from the golf businesses after being elected as US President and handed over his controlling stake to a trust run by his family and legal adviser Allen Weisselberg.
His shareholdings have now been passed to the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust. Mr
Trump and his attorneys said he would leave the management of his private businesses to his adult sons but would retain ownership of the companies through the trust.
It emerged last month that sand dunes ‘damaged’ by work to build the Menie Estate course had been stripped of their protected status.
The 18-hole links course is home to unique flora and fauna. Concerns f or t he natural features and wildlife in the area prompted much wrangling over planning permission before it opened in 2012.
But environmental quango NatureScot – formerly known as Scottish Natural Heritage – has now ruled the area ‘no longer merits’ protected status.
‘Impact of Covid on business’