Bord Gáis Energy Theatre revenue falls 74% due to pandemic

Revenue at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin last year slumped by 74 per cent to €2.753 million due to the pandemic.

Accounts filed by Crownway Entertainment Ltd show the theatre recorded a pretax loss of €2.15 million following the sharp decline in revenue.

In 2019 it posted a pretax profit of €816,802.

The theatre went dark in March 2020 due to the Government’s Covid-19 restrictions and reopened in September.

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The Book of Mormon is currently being staged, and upcoming events include The Lion King, Les Misérables, Carmen, Tommy Fleming and Chicago.

Global music events and venue operator Live Nation runs the 2,111-seat venue and the shutdown of the business resulted in a €7.9 million revenue hit for the Crownway subsidiary in 2020.

Ticket sales and other revenue fell by €5.88 million to €2.2 million, while food and beverage sales fell €2.06 million to €549,879.

The €2.15 million pretax loss includes combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation charges of €1.26 million along with interest payable and other charges of €526,674.

Staff numbers

The accounts disclose that during 2020 cumulative interest of €3.24 million owed on shareholder loans to the profit and loss account as equity was released.

The €3.24 million in equity – offset by post-tax losses of €2 million and dividends of €63,452 – resulted in the company’s accumulated profits increasing by €1.14 million to €1.37 million at the end of last year.

At the end of December last, the company had shareholder funds of €11.97 million. Its cash funds last year increased from €2.79 million to €7.58 million.

Staff numbers reduced from 44 to 35, and staff costs reduced from €1.84 million to €1.39 million

The Bord Gáis Energy Theatre company received €389,755 in government Covid-19 grants made up of €257,200 in temporary wage subsidy scheme payments; €72,555 in employment wage subsidy scheme payments; and Covid restrictions support scheme of €60,000.

Crownway is a private family investment company owned by John and Bernie Gallagher.

It acquired the theatre in 2014 for €29.1 million. Businessman Harry Crosbie opened the theatre in 2010 but lost control of the property after his loans were transferred to Nama.