Pre-tax losses at house-building firm narrow to €16.8m

A Seán Mulryan-controlled house-building firm that recorded annual revenues of almost €100 million at the height of the building boom had a turnover of €84,734 last year.

Ballymore Residential Ltd is one of a number of Mr Mulryan’s Ballymore companies that has had its loans transferred to Nama.

However, accounts for the 12 months to the end of March 2011 just filed show that pre-tax losses narrowed at the firm to €16.8m, following a loss of €45.9m in fiscal 2010. The loss last year included a writedown of €12.4m in stocks.

At the peak of the housing boom in 2006, the firm recorded revenues of €96m and, with the collapse of the house construction sector, turnover at the firm last year amounted to €84,734. Last year, the company recorded residential property sales of €1.8m and rental income of €211,814. Project management income of €1.97m contributed to the company’s turnover of €84,734.

The accounts confirm that Nama has approved a business plan for the group and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed which “sets out the various conditions and key performance indicators that the group is required to achieve in order to ensure Nama’s continued support”.

The note states “the directors of Ballymore Properties have carried out a detailed assessment of the group’s business plan, the status of its funding arrangements and its relationship with its key financiers, including Nama”. The note states: “The key assumptions underlying this assessment is that the group will meet the financial targets agreed with Nama and will formalise the arrangements set out in the MoU by completing binding facility agreements.

“Based on this assessment, the directors of Ballymore Properties have a reasonable expectation that the group will continue to be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due for the foreseeable future.”

At the end of March 2011, the company had net liabilities and accumulated losses of €51.4m and employed two people.

The figures show that the firm had loans owed to Nama and/or banks totalling €9.4m, with €47.5m owed to group undertakings.

The firm last year incurred €289,054 costs in interest payments, compared to €344,833 under the same heading in 2010.