THE BERNARD McNamara-controlled company that owns the Burlington Hotel in Dublin is in talks with Bank of Scotland (Ireland) (BoSI) to secure sufficient working capital to continue operating.

This emerged in a note to the 2008 accounts just filed with the Companies Office by Burhotel Trading Company Ltd.

The note states that Burhotel is “dependent” on the continued financial support of Soltura Ltd, its parent company, which is also controlled by Mr McNamara.

Soltura is “itself dependent on the continued availability of external bank finance”, it adds.

“The bank is in the process of renewing the financing facilities of Soltura Ltd, which are secured primarily on the company’s principal asset with a view to ensuring that sufficient working capital will continue to be made available for the foreseeable future,” the note says.

According to the accounts, this finance is “intrinsically linked to the underlying value of the company’s principal asset, the company’s ability to raise additional finance, and to develop or utilise the asset in a profitable manner”.

The collapse of the Irish economy and the property market “may have a significant impact on the ultimate outcome of the project”, the note adds.

Burhotel Trading Company owed Soltura €175 million at the end of 2008, which was “interest free and due on demand”. The Burlington property is listed as a tangible asset in the company’s balance sheet with a value of €185.3 million at December 31st, 2008.

Burhotel incurred an operating loss of €1.1 million in 2008 and had accumulated losses of €14.7 million at the end of that year.

A spokesman for Mr McNamara said talks with the bank were ongoing.

Mr McNamara acquired the Burlington for €288 million in March 2007. He also spent about €100 million buying adjoining land from insurer Allianz and secured planning permission to develop the sites.

The slump in the Irish property market prompted Mr McNamara to reopen the hotel in 2008.