Habitat's Irish operation recordsoperating loss of €506,887

Habitat's Irish unit has slipped into the red with an operating loss of €506,887 in the year to March.

Famous for its minimalist designs, it was only with the help of an exceptional contribution of €1.06 million that the furniture and homewear chain turned a pretax profit of €549,692.

The Irish operation is controlled by former Habitat group manager Malcolm Brighton, a Londoner who acquired the Irish franchise in 2002 from the foundation that owns the commercial interests of Ikea founder Ingvar Kamprad and his family.

Newly filed accounts for Mr Brighton's vehicle Conai Designs (Ireland) Ltd - which runs the Habitat stores in Dublin, Galway and Belfast - show a marginal improvement in gross profits to €4.39 million last year from €4.15 million in the previous period and €3.55 million in the year before that.

The accounts are abridged so the company's turnover is not disclosed. Habitat's positioning in the market puts it in a good position to benefit from the housing boom, and Conai Designs has made significant capital investments in recent years.

This company spent € 2.5 million last year on the new Dublin store that occupies a former Bank of Ireland building that links Suffolk Street with College Green.

The once-off contribution of €1.06 million in respect of a "fundamental reorganisation due to relocation" is believed to derive from compensation Conai Designs received from the Arcadia fashion group for the surrender of the lease on its first Dublitn store at St Stephen's Green.

After buying the Irish business for €5-€6 million four years ago, Mr Brighton has continued to invest heavily in its expansion.

He spent a total of €2.9 million opening branches in Galway and Belfast in the year before the move to College Green.

The latest Conai Design accounts show that the net debts in the business rose to €2.09 million last year from €1.34 million.

Mr Brighton's company Ligeta Consulting received €257,397 in fees last year from Conai Designs. A consulting company controlled by co-director Malcolm Curzon, MQC Consulting, received fees of €76,509.