Associated Newspapers out of the red

ASSOCIATED Newspapers (Ireland), the publisher of the Irish Mail on Sunday, slipped out of the red last year, with pre-tax profits of just over €900,000.

This compares with pre-tax losses of €7.8 million for the previous year.

The company, however, continued to suffer huge losses on its Irish investment, showing retained losses at €67.5m — slightly down on the previous year’s €68.2m, according to accounts just filed, covering the year to the end of September 2007.

Deloitte, in its auditors’ report, said: “The balance sheet of the company shows an excess of liabilities over assets and, in our opinion, on that basis, there did exist at 30 September 2007 a financial situation which under Section 40(1) of the Companies (Amendments) Act 1983, which may require the convening of an extraordinary general meeting of the company.”

Turnover was €18.5m, with the principal activities being the provision of editorial, sales and administrative support services for the Irish editions of the Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail, the accounts showed.

It also said the company’s management control moved from Britain to Ireland on 15 January 2007.

Associated Newspapers, ultimately owned by the London-listed Daily Mail & General Trust, entered the Irish media market in 2001 with the acquisition of Ireland on Sunday, which was later renamed the Irish Mail on Sunday.