Can Desmond’s eSpatial plot its way back to the black?

Billionaire financier Dermot Desmond isn't exactly known for tolerating losses at his various companies, but he has had to suck them up at eSpatial Solutions, his mapping software business.

eSpatial, which has commercialised a range of online mapping tools for customers such as Siemens and Tata, has been in the red for well over a decade. Its recently filed 2014 accounts show accumulated losses rose by more than €3 million to €34 million, with a €20.3 million deficit in its balance sheet.

The auditors note, however, that the financier’s IIU Nominees has agreed to continue financing eSpatial. Desmond has been around the block when it comes to building capital intensive tech firms, so he will surely help it map a route to profitability eventually.

Meanwhile, BBC’s Cost of Football survey was also published this week.

Celtic, where Desmond is the main shareholder, may have been displaced from top spot in the Scottish Premier League by the oil barons of Aberdeen, but it still tops the table for fan costs.

Its season tickets are 12 per cent above the league average, replica shirts are priced 18 per cent above the league average – and even the costs of a pie and a cup of tea at Parkhead are more than 10 per cent higher.

But still they won’t buy a decent striker...