Saturday, February 18, 2012
Losses continued to mount last year at the property investment company established by celebrity consumer advocate Eddie Hobbs.
Accounts just filed with the Companies Office show that the Cork-based Brendan Investment Pan European Property plc recorded a €3.32 million pre-tax loss in the 12 months to the end of Jan 31, 2011, following a pre-tax loss of €262,883 in 2010.
The chief factor behind the loss was unplanned refurbishment costs of €2.5m of the company’s office building in the Airport City business park in Dusseldorf.
The refurbishment stemmed from the tenant for the building, the DAX listed Arcandor plc going into liquidation in October 2009.
According to the directors’ report: "The liquidation of Arcandor resulted in the application of cash reserves to refurbish Airport Office 1 at an unplanned cost of €2.5m. The remainder of the loss for 2011 reflects the carrying cost of the building for the duration of the refurbishment period.
The company’s rental income last year declined from €975,893 to €895,802, with rental expenses increasing from €217,008 to €331,584.
The refurbishment spend contributed to the company’s cash reducing last year from €4.4m to €1m.
This contributed to the company’s interest income falling from €212,662 to €58,623 last year.
The company recorded an operating loss of €2.4m last year compared to an operating profit of €315,568 in 2010.
Chief executive of Brendan Investments Vincent Regan said yesterday that the 51,000 sq ft office block, formerly occupied by Arcandor, is now 100% rented out to new tenants.
"The company has now fully committed its capital across 81,000 sq ft of German commercial property creating gross rents of €1.68m," he said.
The accounts show the four directors, including Mr Hobbs, Mr Regan, Hugh O’Neill and Dermot Flanagan received €42,600 combined in directors’ remuneration in 2011.
The accounts show that a sister company with the same directors, Brendan Investments Property Management Ltd was paid €360,400 by Brendan Investment Pan European Property — inclusive of directors’ salaries of €107,000 during 2010.
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