Cork developer’s UK firm racks up losses of €409k

A UK-based company owned by Cork developer Owen O’Callaghan recorded losses totalling £328,264 (€409,053) last year.

According to accounts filed with the Companies House in the UK, O’Callaghan Properties (UK) Ltd recorded the loss in the 12 months to the end of Apr 30, 2011, following a modest profit of £18,351 the previous year.

The company’s lands for resale and development works almost doubled during the year, from £2.56m to £5m.

The figures show that at the end of Apr 2011, the company owed its parent company, Riga Cork Ltd, £2.77m.

Separate filings for the unlimited and Irish-based O’Callaghan Properties confirm the company recorded a profit in the 12 months to Apr 30 last year.

As the firm is unlimited, it is not required to provide detailed accounts.

However, separate filings by another O’Callaghan company, Riga Cork Ltd, confirm that O’Callaghan Properties recorded a profit of €4,152, with reserves of €2.28m.

The figures show that Riga Cork had accumulated losses of €535,967 last year, shareholder funds totalling €17.4m, and cash during the year decreased from €15m to €8.8m.

Returns for O’Callaghan Properties show that Mr O’Callaghan is a director of 65 different companies with four in the British Virgin Islands, three in the UK, and the remainder in Ireland.

In relation to one of Mr O’Callaghan’s firms, Mahon Leeside Construction, an auditor’s report confirms it made an unspecified loss during the year to the end of Apr 2011.

The auditors, CHK Partnership, also draw attention to the valuation of properties owned by the company.

The auditors state: “The company’s assets consist mainly of properties held for resale. Given the materiality of the company’s property portfolio and the inherent subjectivity in the assessment of the carrying valuer, we draw your attention to the uncertainty associated with the assessment of the carrying value of property assets under current market conditions.”