Fire safety costs left one of Irish builder Ballymore’s British businesses with a €41 million loss in its last financial year, new accounts show.
The Sean Mulryan-controlled group has signed up to a “developers’ pledge” in the UK, guaranteeing that apartment owners or occupiers in blocks it has built or refurbished over the last 30 years, will not have to pay to ensure the structures meet new fire safety rules.
Accounts for Ballymore Ltd and Subsidiaries, a key part of its British operation, show that the business lost £36.25 million (€41.56 million) before tax in the 12 months to March 31st, after spending £36.9 million on new fire protections for its buildings.
British lawmakers introduced the new fire safety rules following the huge blaze at Grenfell Tower in London that killed 72 people in June 2017.
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The British government subsequently wanted developers to pay to bring buildings into line with the new standards, even where they had complied with previous rules. Estimates of the total bill to the industry run to £4 billion.
Ballymore is one of 48 companies that have signed the pledge. Director Patrick Dalton explained that this commits the company to paying for, or carrying out, “life-critical fire safety works in buildings of over 11 metres [in height], which the group has played a role in developing over the last 30 years”.
Mr Dalton said Ballymore supports British government efforts to ensure buildings are safe to live in
That includes a small number of buildings that the group no longer owns or manages, Mr Dalton said in his report, filed with the accounts.
Mr Dalton said Ballymore supports British government efforts to ensure buildings are safe to live in, and to implement the recommendations of a 2018 review of building regulations and fire safety at no cost to leaseholders (apartment owners).
He said the group had completed “extensive remedial works” on a number of buildings. “We have ensured that none of our residential leaseholders have had to make any contribution towards any fire-safety related remedial works or any temporary measures undertaken,” he added.
Ballymore Ltd and Subsidiaries’ accounts show that turnover dropped to £8.8 million in the 12 months to March 31st – the company’s financial year – from £40.7 million in its previous financial year, when the company soled properties for £27 million.
Income from contracting and management fell to £3.55 million in 2022 from £8.7 million last year. Rental income climbed to £5.3 million from £4.8 million.
Net assets fell to £183 million on March 31st this year from £217 million 12 months previously, the consolidated balance sheet shows. The company did not pay any dividends.
The accounts state that Ballymore Ltd repaid a £30 million loan to Irish lender AIB, subsequent to March 31st.
The company’s directors earned £656,780, against £2.8 million last year. However, the 2021 figure includes £2.48 million paid under an agreed bonus scheme to Ballymore’s former UK finance director, David Pearson, when he left the company.
Mr Mulryan, the well-known developer and founder of the Ballymore Group, ultimately controls the company. The accounts note that it paid £6.5 million for professional services provided to it by other businesses that Mr Mulryan controls.
Most of Ballymore’s operations are focused on Ireland and Britain. The company is the developer on the Guinness Quarter project, a joint venture with brewing giant Diageo to revamp its site at St James’s Gate in Dublin.
