Property firm’s revenues fall 67%

ONE of the country’s best known property firms, Airspace Investments last year wrote down the value of its properties and investments by €19 million, leaving it €9m in the red at the end of its financial year.

The company and its subsidiaries were led for many years by well-known developer and Cork native, Ken Rohan, before he stepped down last December when his 35-year-old son, Jamie, was appointed managing director of the business.

Ken Rohan, who turned 65 last year, remains a director and majority shareholder in the group.

Documents just filed with the Companies Office, show that revenues at Airspace Investments Ltd and subsidiaries decreased sharply by 67% from €38.5m to €12.5m to the end of November last.

The figures show that the company sustained a 56% drop in operating profits during the year from €11.6m to €5m.

However, the figures show that the group enjoyed a €5.6m exceptional gain after realising a gain of €12m as a result of settling a long-term debt obligation 10 years in advance of its duerepayment date, but was offset by a loss of €6.3m through the write-down of “other investments”.

However, interest payments of €3.7m last year reduced the group’s pre-tax profits to €7.7m – a decrease of 9.8% on the 2008 pre-tax profit of €8.6m.

After the further write-down in investment properties of €12.7m, the group recognised a loss of €9m at the end of the year.

This also accounted for the group last year paying a dividend of €2.5m following a dividend pay-out of €1.9m in 2008.

According to the directors’ report: “The directors are satisfied the group’s financial strength will enable it to respond to suitable opportunities when the economic environment demonstrates signs of underlying improvement.”

The directors state that the results for 2009 “are in line with expectations”.

The accounts show that the group had accumulated profits of €80m at the end of the year with shareholder funds totalling €141.3m.

The accounts point out that the economic climate, and in particular the downturn in the property market, created uncertainty about the carrying value of the assets, and state that the directors wrote down their values to reflect any diminution in value.

Airspace owns the Grand Canal Plaza office complex in Dublin, which houses BT Ireland’s HQ and Microsoft, and the accounts show that 68% or €8.6m of the group’s €12.5 million in revenues came from rent.