UK infrastructure investor John Laing Group took a dividend of more than €13 million from the company that operates the Convention Centre Dublin in 2024 after it grew profits by about a third to more than €24 million, its latest accounts show.
Accounts filed by Spencer Dock Convention Centre Dublin DAC show it made a profit of €24.2 million in the year, which was up from a profit of €18.2 million in 2023.
The bounce in profits can be attributed to the release of an impairment provision of €7.6 million.
The figure was included in the accounts after the group carried out a reassessment of whether loans it provided to an entity called Pearlbay DAC could be recovered after that group began making repayments again.
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Turnover at the Convention Centre group was down marginally from €32.65 million to €32.3 million, while operating expenses rose about by the same amount from €24.2 million to €24.5 million.
Operational income from events at the 8,000 capacity centre fell marginally from €25.6 million to €25.1 million in the year.
The John Laing Group completed the purchase of the operating licence for the facility in 2023 from the State-backed Irish Infrastructure Fund. The accounts show a dividend of €13.4 million was paid out to it in 2024, down from €18 million the year before.
The Infrastructure Investment Fund agreed to sell the contract to John Laing Group at the time along with two of its other three assets – telecoms towers business Towercom and primary healthcare firm Valley Healthcare.
While none of the sides disclosed financial details of the deals at the time, they were reported by The Irish Times to be worth about €1 billion in total.
The deal was the biggest in the history of John Laing, which traces its roots back to 1848 and was taken over by US private equity giant KKR in 2021.
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The Infrastructure Investment Fund was set up by Irish Life Investment Managers in 2011, with €250 million of backing from the State’s Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, then known as the National Pensions Reserve Fund.
The Office of Public Works owns the Convention Centre building on North Wall Quay, while John Laing will continue to run the facility until 2035.
The building was developed as part of a public-private partnership between Treasury Holdings and the Office of Public Works. It was the first ever State-owned public access building to be constructed here, and was designed by Irish-born architect Kevin Roach.
The facility quickly became a landmark building on Dublin skyline when it opened in 2010. Its glass fronted atrium gives visitors panoramic views of the River Liffey, Dublin City Centre, and the Wicklow Mountains.
It offers 22 multifunctional rooms suitable for meetings, banquets, conferences and exhibitions of all shapes and sizes.
