AN examiner was appointed to the Advanced Technology College, Merrion Square, Dublin, by the High Court yesterday.
Mr Justice Kelly appointed Mr Ruairi O'Farrell as examiner. He had been appointed interim examiner last week. The judge set April 14th for Mr O'Farrell to present his first report.
Yesterday Dr Michael Forde SC, for the students who are the petitioners, made the application. He said the secured creditor National Irish Bank, the Revenue Commissioners, the directors and the shareholders were not opposing it. He had told the court previously think there as a potential investor ready to invest money.
The examiner had indicated that he was guardedly optimistic about the future of the company.
In the petition it was stated that the company was at present insolvent. It had been undercapitalised since its inception, and this had resulted in accumulated losses of £90,000 at the end of its first year off trading. The company had been surviving on short term borrowings and had been using these to make capital purchases which, should have been financed from shareholders' funds. The reason for this was apparent from the paid up share capital, which was £2.
The move in October 1996 into the new premises in Merrion Square resulted in substantially increased costs.
It did make trading profits in the years 1993 to 1995 of about £45,000. Adjusting for depreciation, those would be equivalent to £165,000. Net liabilities for the year ended July 31st, 1995, were £43,944. In the current financial year the company had an income of about £1.5 million. Projections indicated that even with the increased costs of the new location, it should still trade for the year at a small profit.