Trump’s Scottish golf courses continue to struggle

(Reuters) – Donald Trump’s two Scottish golf courses, into which he has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars over the past two decades, continued to burn cash in 2023, accounts published on Tuesday show.

Republican presidential candidate Trump’s Turnberry course fell back into the red last year, losing 1.7 million pounds ($2.22 million) before tax compared with a profit of 570,00 pounds in 2022.

That was the luxury resort’s first profit since Trump bought the fabled course in 2014, accounts for operating company SLC Turnberry Limited show.

Accounts for Trump International Golf Links Scotland, which operates a course north of Aberdeen that Trump built from scratch on until then protected sand dunes, showed a 12th straight annual loss since opening in 2012.

The critically acclaimed course lost 1.43 million pounds in 2023, compared with a loss of 740,000 pounds in 2022.

The poorer performance at the courses last year was due to flat revenues and rising costs.

Former U.S. president Trump’s business interests have moved away from real estate, for which he was long best-known, to golf and related properties.

His U.S. courses have performed strongly as political supporters flocked to play and socialise there, industry executives say.

But opinion polls show that Trump, whose mother was born in Scotland, is unpopular in Britain.

The losses at the Scottish courses are unlikely to cause big problems for Trump. Reuters estimated in August that Trump’s businesses could generate about $80 million in cash this year.

($1 = 0.7652 pounds)

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; editing by Jonathan Oatis and Ken Ferris)