Lisney reports pretax loss of €600,000 as turnover declines

ESTATE AGENTS Lisney slipped into the red last year, posting a pretax loss of almost €600,000 as turnover dropped by one-third.

Accounts just posted to the Companies Office show the Dublin-based firm cut its costs substantially in the year to the end of March 2009, reducing operating expenses by 34 per cent to €12 million.

This included a drop in directors’ salaries, which have fallen by 86 per cent in two years. Staff numbers fell from 174 to 151 last year, while Lisney’s overall wage bill fell from €13 million to €8.3 million.

In a statement accompanying the accounts, the firm’s 15 directors, led by Peter Stapleton, say they carried out a review of costs “in keeping with activity levels” and took corrective action where necessary. The directors shared pay fell from €3.09 million to €1.2 million last year.

Turnover at Lisney declined from €20.5 million in 2008 to €13.7 million last year, with directors citing “continuing difficulties in the property market”.

In the accounts, they describe the 12 months ending in March last as “a difficult year” and say they expect conditions to remain challenging for “the next 12 to 18 months”. The directors were optimistic about future trading, however, stating they expected the company to “trade profitably” in the year ahead.

They also pointed to “positive post-year-end trading results and highlighted the continuing availability of bank funding.

A note to the accounts shows that Lisney’s shareholders have provided a €2.4 million loan to the company since the accounts were drawn up, thus allowing a €2.5 million loan note facility to be replaced.

Overdraft funds of €1 million have meanwhile been converted into a seven-year term loan. The company paid €1.6 million in bank interest charges last year.

The accounts show that Lisney reduced its longer-term debt from €1.8 million to just shy of €750,000 over the year.

Cash on the balance sheet amounted to €271,546 at year end.

Lisney revalued its freehold property, cutting it by €400,000 to €1.75 million, while noting it had no intention of selling it.