Opera House losses narrow to €180k
New 2012 accounts show that the two main factors behind the 78% drop in pre-tax losses last year was a cash injection of €314,500 from Cork City Council and the absence of restructuring charges that cost the venue €371,099 in 2011.
The figures filed with the Companies Office to the end of March 31 2012 show that before these items are taken into account, operating losses increased more than 25% to €631,251 in spite of an upsurge in revenues.
According to accounts just filed, they show revenues increased by 17% from €3.84m to €4.5m in the 12 months to the end of March last.
Last year, the venue staged 276 performances in its main auditorium with 127,784 patrons attending compared to 204 performances in 2011 when 127,557 attended.
In an accompanying statement, Cork Opera house CEO Mary Hickson stated that “we have worked tirelessly to stabilise the business and are delighted to see the fruits of initiatives: stronger income; reduced costs and wider audience base.”
She added: “We strongly believe we are on the right road and acknowledge that we still have a way to go to be on strong stable ground.”
In his statement, chairman, Damien Wallace said that the improvement in the venue’s finances “will allow us to eliminate the revenue deficit, return to an annual surplus and begin the repay the funds loans from the City Council.
In 2011, the City Council provided a €1.25m loan to the Cork Opera House in order to secure its future — the loan is repayable over 15 years with a moratorium on repayments for the first three years.
Mr Wallace states that the programming at the Opera House has been transformed in its quality and variety and “this has taken place because of the efforts of CEO, Mary Hickson”.
The figures show that the company’s accumulated losses last year totalled €3.3m. The firm’s shareholder funds totalled €2.4m with its cash reducing from €817,080 to €418,999.
The average number of employees during the year decreased from 53 to 45 with staff costs increasing from €1.24m to €1.26m. The numbers employed in 2010 totalled 78.
The loss last year takes account of €602,338 in non-cash depreciation costs.
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