Value of REO property portfolio up to £1.2bn

The value of properties held by the Treasury Holdings-controlled quoted vehicle, REO Ltd, grew last year, but the company's management activities made a loss.

REO is a Dublin and London-listed property investment company. Last December it bought the landmark Battersea Power Station site in London for €600 million.

It reported yesterday that its assets grew 67 per cent in 2006 to £1.2 billion sterling (€1.8 billion) from £718.7 million.

Net assets approached £270 million from £184.4 million. The company said it had net debt of £820 million at the end of 2006, more than double the £402 million it reported a year earlier.

Treasury Holdings, controlled by high-profile developers John Ronan and Richard Barret, owns almost 59 per cent of REO. Along with Harry Crosbie, both men are shareholders in the company that the Government chose to build the National Conference Centre on Spencer Dock in Dublin.

Its accounts show that it lost £23.8 million last year, an increase of 23 per cent on the £19.35 million loss on ordinary activities it recorded in 2005. This left it with a basic loss per share of 9.4 pence in 2006, up from 8.3 pence a year earlier.

The company's turnover, profit and losses are based on rental income from its properties in Ireland and Britain.

Turnover dipped to £18.9 million from £19 million. Less a £2.1 million contribution from a joint venture, group turnover was £16.8 million in 2006.