The directors of Irish Press plc have received no offers to buy the three now defunct titles. And its annual report just published shows a sharp rise in directors and employees salaries, although the numbers employed in the company has fallen from seven to six.

The report shows that the total amount paid to seven employees last year was £144,000 or around £20,000 on average per employee. This year there are only six employees and the total payment has risen to £212,000 or £35,000 per employee on average.

Writing in the annual report Irish Press chairman, Mr Vincent Jennings, reveals that general expenses amounted to £421,000, of which £152,000 is directly attributable to costs, including salary costs, associated with plans to republish the newspapers and costs arising from placing the titles on sale.

"These costs are no longer being incurred," he says.

Irish Press plc is the group holding company. The company which owns the titles is Irish Press Publications. Its majority shareholder is Irish Press plc.

Irish Press Newspapers (IPN) which was the operating company went into liquidation two years ago with losses approaching £20 million and 600 job losses.

The other IPP shareholder - Independent Newspapers which owns 24.9 per cent of IPP - agreed to Deloitte & Touche advertising the three titles - the Irish Press, Evening Press and Sunday Press - for sale nationally and internationally.

"Despite enquiries, no proposal for the purchase of the titles was received," Mr Jennings writes in the report which covers the year to March 31st last. He assures shareholders that the board "continues to be committed" to seeking means through which the publication of the newspapers might be resumed, but cautions shareholders that "it is difficult to be overly optimistic".

He points out that relaunching one or more newspapers requires the commitment of "very substantial sums far in excess of the resources available to this company". The report shows that the company made a pre-tax loss of £68,000 compared to a loss of £1.03 million last year. The loss arises after taking account of the profit on the sale of financial assets of £313,000 and interest receivable of £129,000. Shareholders funds have increased from £570,000 to £2.1 million, mainly due to a revaluation of the group's financial assets.

The company will hold its a.g.m. in the Davenport Hotel, Dublin, on November 5th at 11 a.m.