Late companies returns net €18.2m

THE Companies Registration Office (CRO) took in €18.2 million in fines from firms that failed to file their annual accounts on time.

The figure in the 2004 Companies Report is down €9.6m on 2003 as more companies filed on time.

However, the number of companies filing an up-to-date set of accounts at the correct date was below the target set by the CRO. Some 70% of the country’s 142,000 firms filed accounts on time, but the percentage of those filing the most recent accounts, (83% of the total) was below the 90% target set by the CRO.