One more thing

Sparkling exploration, new acquisitions, more airline turmoil and not-so fashionable losses

Brereton putting sparkle back in Grafton Street shop

GRAFTON STREET might have lost a little of its sparkle in the recession but that didn’t deter family-owned John Brereton Jewellers from paying €5 million to buy number 33, formerly the home of West’s jewellery shop.

Brereton plans to spend about €1 million refurbishing the shop and, unlike West’s, will trade from three floors as it seeks to make the asset pay for itself. The shop is slated to open in September in plenty of time for the countdown to Christmas.

Normally a media-shy company, this week Paul Brereton spoke to me about the company’s decision to pitch up on Grafton Street.

“We’ve looked at Grafton Street in the past but it just didn’t make any sense given the prices that were being quoted,” he told me.

Brereton said sales at its three existing shops – O’Connell Street, Capel Street and Chatham Street – were “flat” in December, year on year.

“That was an achievement in itself given the days lost to the snow,” he added.

For the year as a whole, its three Dublin shops were 8 per cent up in turnover terms. Brereton wouldn’t give a turnover figure, but latest abridged accounts show accumulated profits of €4.9 million at the end of 2009.

The new premises on Grafton Street will see its shop on Chatham Street close, after 35 years trading. Five staff will transfer with about five new hires planned.

“We feel it’s a good time to get a high-profile pitch on Grafton Street, which is still one of the best retail streets in Europe,” Brereton said.

Making this investment at a time of recession doesn’t faze Brereton. Why should it? The business was founded in 1916 – just weeks before the Easter Rising which reduced the city centre to rubble.

“Remarkably, we only closed for something like three days,” he said.

Teeling mines seam of success

HE’S ONLY one year off the bus pass but Clontarf-based entrepreneur John Teeling is showing no signs of slowing down.

His latest resource company, Botswana Diamonds, is due to list on the AIM junior stock market in London on January 31st.

It’s a spin off from African Diamonds, which Teeling floated in 2003, and has taken exploration licences in Botswana previously held by that company.

It is also pursuing opportunities in Zimbabwe and Cameroon, which should prove interesting.

It is due to float at 7p a share, which will give it a market value of about £7 million.

It is funded for its exploration work this year with $2 million in cash.

After a few false starts, production at the AK6 mine that African Diamonds (now owned by Lucara) promoted will begin later this year.

As part of the spin out from African Diamonds, its shareholders will receive stock in Botswana on a one-to-one basis.

“It’s the first of the year . . . there’ll be others down the road,” Teeling told me this week.

He is also hatching plans to list Clontarf Energy, an oil and gas exploration and production company.

Clontarf has taken on some of the assets of Pan Andean Resources, which Teeling previously ran before its sale last year. This includes production assets in the Gulf of Mexico and in Bolivia, while it also has some new exploration blocks in Peru.

If that isn’t enough, Teeling is eyeing a listing for gold exploration company Swala in Toronto.

Swala has interests in Burkina Faso in west Africa.

Teeling is also progressing its lead and zinc interests in Connemara Mining. The company plans to look at ground close to the Lisheen mine in Co Tipperary in addition to its existing licences in Limerick.

The entrepreneur has no plans of slowing down. “Far from it,” he said, “although I might be doing things slower. I have more opportunities open to me now than I had 10 years ago.”

“Anybody who is not based in Ireland at the moment is doing well and the resources sector is very strong. It’s a good time to be in the sector.”

Cold comfort  for Aer Lingus

AER LINGUS is keeping a watching brief on moves by Virgin and Lufthansa to extract financial relief from the British Airport Authority for the pre-Christmas chaos at Heathrow airport in London. Thousands of flights were cancelled because of the snow, with airlines left to pick up the tab.

A spokesman said Aer Lingus would “await the outcome of various inquiries” while it is “working constructively” with the BAA to ensure that such delays are not repeated.

Aer Lingus had 159 Heathrow flights cancelled between December 18th and 22nd due to disruptions caused by the snow. This affected more than 20,000 passengers.

It operates 22 flights a day to Heathrow from Ireland and is the third-biggest slot-holder behind BA and BMI/Lufthansa.

Aer Lingus this week began operating flights to Heathrow from Terminal 2 at Dublin airport for the first time as part of its transition from the old building. Let’s hope the weather stays fine for them.

Challenging times for Tommy Hilfiger

Fashion retailer Tommy Hilfiger continues to operate in the red in Ireland. Accumulated losses at Hilfiger Stores Ireland Ltd rose to €4.8 million for the 12 months to the end of March 2010 from €3.6 million in the previous year, its latest accounts show.

This indicates a loss of €1.2 million for the year.

Shareholders’ funds were €123,538 in the red. Hilfiger injected €4.6 million in new capital into the business at the end of March.

The US group runs a number of stores here. Its flagship is on Grafton Street, where it pays €1.6 million a year in rent. This opened in late 2008, just as the economy was crashing. The accounts show that fit-out costs amounted to €1.3 million.

There was one small consolation. The retailer enjoyed a rent-free period from August 2008 to January 2009.

Little Things

BUSINESS FOR Ireland, a new London-based group set up to “support” economic growth in Ireland, will hold its first “special discussion forum” in the British capital next Wednesday.

RTÉ broadcaster Seán O’Rourke has been enlisted to chair a session where the speakers will include Ibec director general Danny McCoy, Kevin Gardiner, head of global investment strategy at Barclays Wealth, and the Ernst Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Brian Conlon of First Derivatives.

“The Irish economy has made global headlines. Sometimes it has been portrayed as collapsed and dead. Not true,” the invitation states.

A number of legal eagles are also involved, including John Kettle of Mason Hayes + Curran, Michael Doran of White Case and former Government adviser Oliver O’Connor.

A large attendance is expected. Let’s hope they have some big ideas for us.

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At the same time as his work to help reconstruct Haiti’s capital (right) following last year’s earthquake has received widespread praise from international media, Denis O’Brien has won a $2.5 million grant for Digicel from USAID and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to help it provide mobile banking financial services in the impoverished state.

Digicel beat off American company Voila and local player Hitel to secure the funds.