Debt-restructuring firm records profit of €514,365 in 2012

A debt-restructuring firm set up by two former senior executives with Anglo Irish Bank and which says it has helped property developers and other clients restructure bank debts of more than €5 billion during 2011 and 2012, has reported a profit of €514,365 in the year to the end of April 2012.

LeBruin Private Ltd was set up by Thomas Browne and Cathal Fitzgerald in March 2008. Mr Browne resigned from Anglo in 2008, in the wake of the appointment of David Drumm as the bank's chief executive, a position some thought would go to Mr Browne.

The former head of Irish lending is currently in litigation with the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (in liquidation), which is seeking to recover €50 million in loans. Mr Browne is contesting the claim. Mr Fitzgerald is a former director of Anglo’s wealth management division.

Accumulated losses
The latest accounts for LeBruin show its accumulated losses fell to €177,197 from €691,562 during its 2012 financial year. It reported a profit of €514,365, compared with a loss of €144,691 the previous year.

The company’s only creditors are its shareholders, who are owed €1.47 million. Mr Browne was paid rent of €42,000 by the company and is owed €15,000 of the amount owed to the company’s shareholders.

The accounts, which were filed in December, say Mr Browne and Mr Fitzgerald control the company. A request for a comment on the results met with no response.

The latest annual return for LeBruin shows that Mr Browne transferred his shares (51,000 out of an issued share capital of 100,000 shares) to Mr Fitzgerald in May 2012, bringing the latter's shareholding to 85,000 shares. The remaining shares are owned equally by Rose Castle, Ballincollig, Co Cork; Joseph O'Reilly, c/o Chartered Land, Dundrum, Dublin; and Seán Reilly, Harcourt Road, Dublin 2.

Track record
The company's website says it has established a track record in dealing with the National Asset Management Agency and the leading banks.

The website gives an example of an unnamed client whose €6 million in loans were transferred to an international purchaser as part of a loan portfolio sale, and for whom LeBruin helped negotiate a settlement. It involved the client paying €500,000 to acquire two of the 10 Irish properties used to secure the loans.

The chairman of LeBruin is former chairman of Independent News & Media, James Osbourne.