RTÉ forecasts €36m deficit for 2020 due to fallout from Covid

Seen & Heard: Oxford vaccine, and cost of closing Montrose student accommodation

A spokesman for RTÉ said that its finances had improved in recent weeks and that it now hoped to report a significantly lower deficit for the year end
A spokesman for RTÉ said that its finances had improved in recent weeks and that it now hoped to report a significantly lower deficit for the year end

RTÉ told the Government that it was forecasting a deficit of €36 million for 2020, with Covid-19 significantly deepening the financial crisis at the organisation, according to a report in the Sunday Independent .

In a confidential outlook statement for 2020 to brief newly-appointed Ministers on the state of the organisation’s finances in late June, RTÉ said that it had originally forecast net losses of €10.7 million for the current year, the report states. But the deficit was expected to increase by €25 million given falls in licence fee income and ad revenue since the onset of the pandemic.

However, a spokesman for RTÉ said that its finances had improved in recent weeks and that it now hoped to report a significantly lower deficit for the year end. It is understood that the deficit is more likely to be between €10 million and €20 million, although the situation remains volatile.

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Montrose closure could cost Hines $11m

The Sunday Independent also reported that Hines Global Income Trust, a subsidiary of international property giant Hines, has said the cost of closing and renovating its Montrose student accommodation in Dublin due to fire safety concerns could be $11 million(€9.3 million).

The subsidiary, which is understood to have no bearing on Hines’s other Irish assets, including Cherrywood, also revealed it may escrow certain interest payments or reduce the outstanding principal of its $25 million mortgage at the property.

In its latest results, the company revealed it closed the residential accommodations at Montrose for the upcoming 2020/2021 college year so as to carry out renovations including the replacement of some safety equipment systems.

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Cinamol is involved in development projects including a €41 million plan to build more than 100 buy-to-let apartments in north Dublin. The company was affected by the restrictions on non-essential businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to notes to its financial statements.