Carlisle Trust Ltd, the holding company for the property group built by Mr John Byrne (84), made a modest profit in 2003 but the value of its properties rose by more than €4.5 million, recently filed accounts indicate.

Retained profits rose to €5.9 million from €5.3 million and the revaluation reserve rose to €43.6 million from €39 million, according to accounts for the year to end December 2003. No profit and loss account was published.

The revaluation reserve contains the accumulated increase in value of the company's assets. The investment properties held by Carlisle Trust are revalued by the company's directors each year. Their overall value at the end of 2003 was given as €57.5 million.

Carlisle Trust is the owner of a number of Irish property-owning subsidiaries and is in turn owned by a Cayman Islands trust. No consolidated accounts are published. The Irish properties owned by the group are worth approximately €200 million.

Mr Byrne is currently contesting a finding of the Ansbacher inspectors that the Cayman trust was in fact controlled by him. The case has yet to come to court and the outcome could have significant tax implications.

The Carlisle accounts show that Mr Byrne's wife, Mrs Ciara Byrne, now holds all 10 of the issued preference shares in Carlisle Trust. All 1,080 "B" ordinary shares are held by the Cayman trust while a further 1,134 "C" ordinary shares, issued two years ago, are held by Santanay Ltd, an Irish company, in turn owned by Claraduff Society Ltd, an entity which is not registered in the Companies Registration Office.

The directors of Carlisle Trust are Mr and Mrs Byrne, Mr John Byrne jnr, and Mr Patrick McCann, of MIS.