Ires board under pressure despite winning crucial vote

Ires chairman Declan Moylan (left) and company chief executive Margaret Sweeney. While the Ires board successfully defeated the resolutions, it did so with around 60% of the vote on each which means there remains a significant contingent who are still interested in potentially liquidating the company.

Pressure continues to mount on the State’s largest private landlord despite it seeing off a shareholder revolt at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Friday.

Irish Residential Properties REIT (Ires) owns 3,734 apartments most of which are located in Dublin aside from a 50-unit block in Harty’s Quay in Cork.

The board of the company has been coming under increasing pressure in recent months from activist investor Vision Capital, which owns 5% of the company. 

It called an EGM so shareholders could vote on replacing five board members as well as a resolution which could see a forced sale of the Ires and its assets.

Despite the board defeating all resolutions, shares in the company fell 4.5% on Friday, bringing the loss in the past month to over 10%.

The company is valued at €550.8m despite owning property valued at over €1.4bn. The company's net asset value - which is the value of the portfolio minus outstanding debt and other expenditures - comes to €790m. 

While the Ires board successfully defeated the resolutions, it did so with around 60% of the vote on each which means there remains a significant contingent who are still interested in potentially liquidating the company.

Following the vote, the board said it recognised the level of discontent from shareholders adding that it will continue to act in their interests.

The board is set to continue work on its own comprehensive strategic review to consider the full range of strategic options in order to maximise the value for shareholders.