Sales and profits fall at Rohan family’s property group

Development group founded by Ken Rohan sitting on shareholders’ funds of close to €170m

Jamie Rohan: managing director of the Rohan property group's parent company, Airspace Investments

Profits fell by 75 per cent last year at the property group owned by the family of Enniskerry, Co Wicklow-based developer, Ken Rohan.

Accounts recently filed for Airspace Investments, the parent company of Rohan Holdings, show its profits fell from close to €20 million to about €4.6 million in the 12 months to the end of last November. Turnover at the group fell 60 per cent to about €10.5 million.

The reduction in sales and profits was due to a fall in the amount of property sold by the group. In the previous year, the Rohan property group sold about €17 million worth of mostly industrial properties. Last year, sales dipped below €1 million.

While sales declined, the company’s rental income increased last year by about 10 per cent to €9.5 million.

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Despite the decline in profits and sales, the company, which was founded by Ken Rohan and is now run by his son Jamie Rohan, appears to be in strong financial health. Airspace’s balance sheet shows it has property assets of €154 million and a landbank worth close to €16 million, with no bank debt.

The group also had cash on hand at the end of last November of more than €53 million, while it had accumulated profits of €11 million and had shareholders funds of almost €170 million.

The Rohan group is chaired by the former managing partner of Arthur Cox solicitors, Eugene McCague. Its other directors include several members of the Rohan family, including the company’s founder. Among the directors of the group was his son, Ken Rohan jnr, who died in March 2021 in Mexico.

Company documents show that most of the late Mr Rohan jnr’s shareholding in the family-owned business remains under the control of his estate, while a small portion of his shares were transferred at the end of 2021 to his brother Jamie and his sister, Alison Rohan, a former Nama executive who later took over as Irish head of Kennedy Wilson.

Mark Paul

Mark Paul

Mark Paul is London Correspondent for The Irish Times