Property group Marylebone Warwick Balfour, which owns the Hotel du Vin and Malmaison hotels portfolio, has reported a mixed year with "great success" and "some disappointment".

The group said its full year pre-ex EBITDA rose 17 per cent to £3.3 million against £28.5 million in the comparable period and that it has strong cash flow with a confident outlook.

However, the hotels, serviced offices and retailing group posted an overall loss of £14.3 million for the full year, blaming the deterioration of the financial markets for preventing the completion of two major transactions - including the sale of the hotels portfolio.

The group postponed the sales of the hotels in September just as the credit crunch was beginning.

Both groups had been destined for the planned Vector Hospitality real estate investment trust but this had collapsed earlier in the summer after failing to win investor support.

Alternative packages failed when would-be investors failed to secure the funds they needed in order to complete the sale, which had been estimated at around £700 million.

Despite the problems, the hotels group had a good year. Revenue grew by 20 per cent to £95.3 million from £79.1 million, while like-for-like revenue, excluding new hotel openings, rose 5.3 per cent over the previous year.

Robert Cook, chief executive of the hotels group, said that what had been particularly pleasing was the high occupancy rate - almost 80 per cent - which had been achieved despite five new openings.

He said the plan now was to open a further four hotels this year and to continue capitalising on new opportunities within the business and leisure sectors.

Revenue per room rose eight per cent, averaging out at £115 across the group - a figure which could have been higher had it not been for the part closures of Oxford and Cheltenham respectively due to a fire and last year's serious floods.

The value of the hotels increased £192 million due to a rise in property prices.

The 22-strong estate is now valued at £529 million.

"It is gratifying to note the robustness of our hotel portfolio as it has been able to withstand most of the recent market turbulence," said Mr Cook.

The group also comprises serviced office unit MWB Business Exchange and luxury retailer Liberty.

For the year ended December 31, MWB Business Exchange saw EBITDA rise sharply by 83 per cent to £17 million on revenues

that increased 22 per cent to £100 million. Pre-tax profit for the unit was £12.7 million, which compared with £8.04 million last year.

Liberty, in which MWB owns a majority stake, posted a rise in revenue to £46.7 million from £44.6 million last year.

The retailer said its full year pre-tax loss widened to £6.49 million from £2.65 million added it was confident of producing an improving platform for growth in the current year.

Liberty's progress was constrained due to uncertainties in the financial and consumer markets coupled with a management re-structuring, although the company said it was confident it had the products and structures to improve performance in 2008.

In January, Liberty had said there has been restructuring expenditure during the year as well as continued investment in the Liberty of London luxury brand totalling £7 million and that these costs would impact on the results for 2007.

Shares closed down 2p at 170p.