The Opera House, Cork, has made a profit of £137,000 for the year to the end of March, according to a report issued yesterday.
At the 41st general meeting, the chairman of the board, Mr Charles Hennessy, said the theatre had a turnover of £2.8 million for the year, compared with £2.1 million the previous year.
There were 442 performances in the main auditorium and the adjacent Half Moon Theatre, despite the 14-week closure for essential health and safety works.
Mr Hennessy said the results for this year showed the Opera House was on target in its programme to achieve continued growth. Already £3 million had been spent in refurbishment works and a further £3 million would be spent during the coming year on front-of-house improvements.
The principal partners in funding the refurbishment programme are Cork Corporation (£2.2 million), Cork County Council (£560,000), the National Millennium Committee (£450,000) and the Arts Council (£250,000), Mr Hennessy said.
He added: "We have sought to show every year how investment in the building has helped us to grow the business. And this year's results show the reward, with another level being reached in turnover of £2.8 million.
"It is a wonderful feeling to scent the fruition of a task that the board has dreamt about for a decade. No doubt the completion of major works by October will be in every sense the cornerstone in the transformation of Emmet Place."
Mr Hennessy said a further £500,000 would have to be found by the Opera House as part of the capital spending project, and this would be raised through a public appeal, the first such appeal in a decade seeking contributions from both the public and private sectors.
"I hope that the people of Cork will be convinced that they are adding to the improvement of the city of Cork, and that we will have their support in raising the funding required to complete the work in October," he added.