A PROPERTY company owned by Colum and Ciaran Butler, the brothers behind the Leisureplex chain, had built up an accumulated profit of just over €683,000 at the end of July 2009.
Abridged accounts filed by Chamber Properties, which earns rental income from investment property, show that its retained profits rose from just over €631,000 to €683,026 in the year to July 31st 2009.
This implies a profit for the year of more than €50,000.
A second property company owned by the Butlers, Blanch Properties, had retained profits of almost €89,000 at July 31st 2009, recently-filed accounts show.
This compares to an accumulated loss of more than €115,000 a year earlier.
Both Chamber Properties and Blanch Properties are ultimately owned by Martinet Limited, which is incorporated in the Isle of Man. The brothers’ other business interests include the restaurant chains TGI Fridays and Hard Rock Cafe.
Another property investment company in the Butler empire went into liquidation last December. South County Development had been bought by the two men in 2008 for an estimated €100 million. The company’s primary activity was the development of a commercial property site in South County Business Park, in Leopardstown, known as Red Oak.
They also bought three Irish cinemas in the UCI chain in September 2006 through their company Entertainment Enterprises.
The chain’s Tallaght cinema was later bought by developer and solicitor Noel Smyth as part of his planned redevelopment of the Square shopping centre.
However, rival developer Liam Carroll subsequently sued Colum Butler following a dispute over the sale of the cinema.
