LOSSES AT One51 plc grew tenfold to almost €105 million last year as the investment company wrote down the value of its investment in utility group NTR.
The company, which employs 900 people in Ireland and 1,500 in total, achieved a 14 per cent rise in turnover to €375.7 million in 2010.
Pretax profits rose by 26 per cent to €24.5 million, partially helped by a 33 per cent fall in interest costs on its debt, which fell by €17 million to €147 million.
However, a writedown to the carrying value of the group’s 23.8 per cent shareholding in NTR, as well as impairments to investment properties and other assets, turned the operating profit into a net loss.
Losses on exceptional or one-off items arrived at €125.3 million, the bulk of which relates to NTR. This compares to exceptional losses of €28.5 million in 2009.
One51 now values its investment in NTR at €48.7 million, down from €132 million in December 2009. The writedown is the result of the utility group’s postponement of two large solar energy projects in the US.
The company said the non-cash adjustment to its holding was “prudent, given the near-term uncertainties regarding NTR’s value”.
Despite the net losses, One51’s interim chief executive Alan Walsh said the company was satisfied with its operating performance “in the context of difficult trading conditions” in Ireland and the UK. The group’s environmental services business, branded as ClearCircle Environmental during the year, was the major contributor to One51’s profits, Mr Walsh said. Aided by increases in scrap metal volumes, total turnover at ClearCircle was up 19 per cent, at €316 million.
One51 did not make any statement on the appointment of a permanent chief executive. Mr Walsh took over as interim chief executive after the group’s founder, Philip Lynch, was ousted from his position as chief executive of the group earlier this month.
The One51 board terminated Mr Lynch’s contract following weeks of internal wrangling. He had been under pressure to resign over the poor financial performance of the company, his €1.4 million annual pay and a collapse in the company’s share value, while he also faced criticism at last year’s agm over corporate governance standards.
The group recently secured a €200 million extension to its bank facility, which it described as “a positive achievement in light of continuing credit market constraints”.
