CAVAN-BASED construction company P Elliott Co took a writedown of €43 million in property impairment and provisions against related party debt last year, pushing the company almost €30 million into the red.
Accounts just filed at the Companies Registration Office show that the company wrote off €18.5 million in intercompany debt, with an additional €22 million written off against the value of development sites, joint venture assets and investment properties.
The company posted a pretax loss of €29.2 million for the year, compared to a pretax profit of €8.8 million the previous year.
The accounts note that, while the loss “impacted negatively” on the company’s balance sheet, it did not involve any current year cash losses and was a direct consequence of the falls in property values nationally and internationally.
Turnover fell 39 per cent in the year to €180 million, compared to €293 million in 2008 the accounts show.
Elliot’s had €90 million in loans outstanding, €51 million of which was repayable within one year. The accounts state that the directors formally presented the group’s business plans to lenders in early 2010 and negotiated a renewal of its trading facilities with Ulster Bank, its main bank. It envisages the renewal of all its facilities in the “near future”. The company’s other lenders are Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, and Bank of Scotland (Ireland).
According to the company’s filings, the group’s bank facilities are secured against property assets in Dublin, Cavan and Meath, as well as cross-guarantees from group companies.
Debtors amounted to €95 million, €65 million of which were amounts owed by related parties.
The company, which was founded in 1942, employed 263 people last year, compared to an average of 340 in 2008.
Directors’ loans totalled €3.5 million for the year, €2.6 million of which was loaned by Noel Elliott jnr.
The accounts state that the company construction division had made “very good progress in 2009”. The company secured a number of public contracts, while rental income from its investment properties remained “very stable”, according to the company.
