Blackrock International Land, the property company spun off from fruit group Fyffes, made pretax profits of €13.1 million last year, down from €19 million in 2006.

In its preliminary results for 2007, the company saw its net assets increase 6.2 per cent and it now holds gross property assets of €440 million. Reported net assets came to €230 million.

The company also announced its joint venture with the Linders and Kelly families has been selected by Dublin City Council as the preferred bidder for the redevelopment of Dublin's fruit market. If its bid is approved by councillors, the project would be a "very sizeable" one for the company, a spokesman said.

Despite tough conditions in the Irish and UK commercial property markets, the company benefited from valuation uplifts worth €5.3 million last year.

Its net rental income for the period was €13 million, up from €3.8 million the previous year.

Total investment spending during 2007, including joint ventures, came to €141 million, while property sales worth €38 million were completed.

Declining capital values in commercial property markets and tighter and costlier credit conditions are two "significant headwinds" faced by the company, according to Goodbody Stockbrokers' analyst Dan Cavanagh. In its outlook statement, Blackrock said it seemed "prudent" not to assume that there would be any significant net asset growth in the first half of this year.

However, Blackrock chairman Carl McCann said its results reflected the group's successful development activity during the year and said the company was "well-placed" to pursue its goals during 2008.

In a bid to diversify its activities, its main investments last year included the construction of office buildings in the City of London, the purchase of agricultural land in north Co Dublin, residential developments near Edinburgh and the acquisition of office and warehouse space in Milton Keynes.

Blackrock's joint venture with Lagan Developments recently began its construction of the Navan retail park in a project with an expected development value of more than €70 million.

The construction of the redeveloped markets area, which covers three acres between the Four Courts and Capel Street, is expected to take several years.

Neither the announcement nor its 2007 results prompted heavy trading in Blackrock yesterday. Its share price fell 1 cent on the Iseq index, closing at 33 cent, after 600,000 shares were traded. No dividend was declared.