Lowry firm drops auditors

INDEPENDENT TD Michael Lowry said yesterday that his Streamline Enterprises refrigeration business “is trading successfully” and will continue do so.

Mr Lowry was commenting on the company’s move to terminate the appointment of auditors BBT Chartered Accountants to audit the firm’s accounts.

The accounts for Garuda Ltd, trading as Streamline Enterprises, will not now be independently audited. Mr Lowry said the move“has been done to reduce costs”. “It costs €20,000 a year to have the accounts audited and it also involves a lot of preparation work for audit. The company is now below the threshold where there is a requirement to have accounts audited and so we applied for an audit exemption,” he said. Last year, BBT Chartered Accountants – based in Foxrock, Dublin – initiated High Court action against Mr Lowry.

The case was discontinued and the reasons behind the case being initiated are not known.

“That’s past tense. That’s already dealt with – no comment,” Mr Lowry said about the case. BBT also declined to comment.

The latest accounts for Garuda Ltd show accumulated profits fell by €148,195 from €1.23 million to €1.04 million in the 12 months to the end of December 2010.

Asked if the company recorded a profit in 2011, Mr Lowry would only say that Streamline Enterprises “is trading successfully. It is a difficult business environment out there and the company will continue to trade successfully.”

He added: “I am happy with how the company is performing.”

Mr Lowry said that Streamline Enterprises “downsized two years ago”, though he declined to state how many people it now employs.