Fitzwilton take €28m hit from sale

FITZWILTON, the holding company owned by Tony O’Reilly and his brother-in-law Peter Goulandris, tripled its losses last year after taking a €28 million hit on the sale of its stake in Safeway’s Irish stores.

The company notched up a loss before tax of €46 million in 2002, up from just over €15m the previous year, according to accounts recently filed with the companies registration office. The bulk of the loss come from the sale of its 50% stake in the Irish stores of food retailer Safeway in 2002, where it booked the €28m loss on the disposal.

The sale of the Safeway stores also hit turnover, which fell from €222m to €144m last year.