Losses at greyhound racing firm double to €325k
New accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office show that losses at the Limerick Greyhound Racing Track Ltd last year increased by 153% from €128,401 to €325,983.
However, a spokesman for Bord na gCon said last night that tote revenue is not included in the accounts and if those revenues were factored in, the firm would have recorded a profit of €167,000 for the year.
The accounts show the firm sold the Markets Field in Limerick for €1.5m in 2011. The book value of the property was €2.434m resulting in the loss of €934,000 on the sale. The company returned to Bord na gCon €1.49m from the sale leaving a balance of €772,533 that was released to the firm’s profit and loss account.
The firm took a further write-down of €368,254 on its ill-fated plan to construct a new stadium in Meelick in Co Clare.
This followed it previously writing off €281,582 in design fees for the abandoned plan.
In Oct 2010, a new €18m, 3,000 capacity greyhound stadium in Limerick was opened by the company. The stadium’s first full year of operation contributed to revenues almost doubling from €382,659 to €704,882.
The figures show that before exceptional items, the company’s losses increased from €128,401 to €164,496. As a result of the losses, the firm paid no corporation tax last year.