Losses of €7.7m at property group

ACCUMULATED losses at the property development group responsible for the 16-storey Clarion Hotel in Limerick widened to €7.7 million in 2009.

This followed Steamboat Developments Ltd and subsidiaries recording a loss of €700,823 in the 12 months to the end of December 2009 and a loss of €5.85m for the year before.

NAMA appointed Kieran Wallace of KPMG as receiver to Steamboat in March.

The accounts show the group’s net liabilities rose from €9.3m to €10.4m in 2009; revenues fell from €3.9m in 2008 to €573,436 in 2009; and an operating loss of €307,606 was recorded in 2009. Bank interest payments of €393,217 added to losses.

The two major shareholders of Steamboat are former Ireland rugby team manager Pat Whelan and Pat Chesser.

The directors received €340,677 in remuneration for 2008 and nothing the next year. By the end of 2009, the group owed its two directors €6.2m in loans.

The figures show that Mr Whelan advanced €366,765 to the group in a director’s loan in 2009, bringing to €3.15m the total amount he was owed, while Mr Chesser advanced €365,924 for a total of €3.07m.

The group’s bank loans and overdraft totalled €8.8m at the end of 2009.

Auditors Cunningham Walsh & Associates provided a disclaimer on the financial statements because of significant uncertainties relating to the business.

They are unable to form an opinion on whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the company’s affairs at December 2009.