GOOD TO see that Irish lawyer Noel Smyth remains upbeat in spite of the difficulties being experienced by his business in the UK.

Smyth’s UK-based property group Alburn Holdings Ltd slipped into the red last year after writing down the value of investment properties by £38.9 million. This left the company nursing a pre-tax loss of £26.4 million for the year.

Documents filed with the Companies House in the UK show that Smyth’s principal place of residence is now England.

In an interview with colleague Gordon Deegan, Smyth said the change had been done “for tax purposes” and that it was “no big deal”.

“If the suggestion is that the change is being done to pursue bankruptcy in England, absolutely not,” Smyth said. “Not in a million years. I have a successful business in Ireland, I have a successful business in the UK. It is tough at the moment, but I am getting on with it.”

Smyth added that he had worked in the UK for the last 25 years. “I live in Dublin, but I would work in the UK a couple of days each week.”

He would not discuss his dealings with the National Asset Management Agency. “That is off limits. I have signed a confidentiality agreement with Nama.”

The figures show that Alburn Holdings Ltd’s loss in the 12 months to the end of June last followed the group recording a pretax profit of £8.2 million in 2010.

Mr Smyth’s most high profile property business here holds the largest stake in the Square at Tallaght.

Last year, Nama took possession of Mr Smyth’s entire art collection of almost 400 pieces in relation to debts owned by Alburn.

The returns for the UK property business show the group’s revenues generated by rent dropped by 4.7 per cent from £15.4 million to £14.7 million last year.

The company is engaged in the ownership and management of investment properties in the UK. A 70 per cent increase in administrative expenses to £2.25 million resulted in the group’s operating profit decreasing from £14.1 million to £12.4 million.

The accounts show that at the end of June last, the group had a shareholders’ deficit of £15.7 million.