COUNTYGLEN has given up options in hairdressing chains in Ireland and Britain, according to its chief executive Mr Niall Duggan. The company's future will be discussed by the stock exchange board at the end of the month.
The company will now concentrate on pursuing the myriad legal actions it has taken against past and present shareholders as well as their advisers, said Mr Duggan.
CountyGlen yesterday published its unaudited accounts for the six months to the end of last October. The company made a loss of £273,000 for the period, which comprised operating losses of £21,000 and exceptional losses of £152,000. The operating losses included £50,000 in salaries owed to Mr Duggan and the company chairman Mr Ambrose Kelly which were not drawn down, according to Mr Duggan.
Since the year end, the company has withdrawn from an option to buy a chain of hairdressers in Ireland and sold its option to buy another chain in Britain for a profit of £50,000, said Mr Duggan.
CountyGlen acquired the option at the start of last year CountyGlen will not be liable for the debts of the Irish chain, Mr Duggan said. Mr Kelly and Mr Duggan have both resigned as directors of Raug, the company which owned the Irish chain and over which CountyGlen had an option.
CountyGlen will now focus on its legal actions, the first of which started on February 13th.
CountyGlen is suing the Isle of Man based businessman Mr John Carway, claiming that he was behind a fraud through which the company lost £1 million. It is also suing the firm of solicitors involved in the transaction and Anglo Irish Bank, which was Mr Carway's banker. The defendants are contesting the claims.
The company is basing its case on the report of an investigation into the affair that was carried out for the High Court in 1994. However, Mr Carway has challenged its admissibility as evidence under the Constitution. The case is currently adjourned and could run for many months. The actions against the solicitors, Connolly Sellors Geraghty Fitt, and against Anglo Irish Bank, are not due to be heard until after the action against Mr Carway.
Once the litigation is resolved, CountyGlen will be in a position to acquire further businesses, said Mr Duggan. The company is reported to be in discussions with the Derby based engineering company Transin Tech, which has expressed an interest in mounting a reverse takeover of the company.
Mr Duggan said CountyGlen had been keeping the stock exchange informed of what it was doing. The exchange gave CountyGlen one year to fulfil certain regulations or its listing would will be struck off. The year expires on March 8th.
The general manager of the stock exchange, Mr Tom Healy, said the matter would be discussed at a meeting of the board at the end of March.
Meanwhile, CountyGlen is still awaiting part of the payment for the disposal of its share of the former Glen Abbey site in, Blackrock, Co Dublin. CountyGlen sold its share last year for £600,000. Around £200,000 had been paid by, Kilberry, the site's owner. A further £150,000 will be paid when full planning permission is received and the remaining £250,000 will be paid through a deal which entails a building for CountyGlen to house its head quarters.
However, the planning permission is currently the subject of an appeal. Mr Duggan said a decision on the appeal is due in about four weeks.
