Latest accounts show losses of €68m at PJ Walls

Property development group PJ Walls which has just hived off its profitable construction arm has recorded pre-tax losses of €67.9m in 2013.

New accounts show that the indebted PJ Walls Holdings and subsidiaries recorded the losses after writing down the value of its assets by €67m.

Revenues at the group reduced by 35% from €144.35m to €93.57m in the 12 months under review.

Earlier this week, it was confirmed that PJ Walls Holdings spun off its profitable building business, Walls Construction, from its holding company in a €10-plus management buyout, partially backed by some of its shareholders. Separate accounts lodged by Walls Construction Ltd for 2013 show that the firm accounted for €83m of the group’s revenues and recorded an operating profit of €1m.

The holding firm had bank borrowings of €110.47m at the end of December 2013 and in a note attached to the accounts, it confirmed the group entered into an arrangement to extend its financing facilities until November 2016.

In February 2013, PJ Walls Holdings disposed of its UK construction operations with the result that the number of employees that the group employed fell from 334 to 259 with staff costs reducing from €21.1m to €13.6m. The accounts state PJ Walls Holdings recorded a profit of €677,830 on its UK business sale.

The business was sold for £3.3m and the business was sold to the business’s management team.