Develop, build, let - and get rich

The Big Developers:Bernard McNamara is a shareholder in many of Michael McNamara & Co's client companies and earns regular money from rent, writes Colm Keena, Public Affairs Correspondent

Michael McNamara & Co's website says it has a turnover of more than €500 million and is one of the top three building contractors in the State.

The website also itemises a large number of projects completed or being built by the group, giving the value of each project and the name of the client. In many instances, the client is a limited company in which the owner of the McNamara group, Bernard McNamara, is a substantial shareholder.

McNamara is another builder turned property developer who has along the way amassed a substantial property portfolio. In his case he has not abandoned construction, and his continued involvement means he amasses a larger amount of profit from any particular development he has a stake in.

The McNamara group is owned by way of a holding company called Adenway, which, as an unlimited company, is not required to file accounts with the Companies Registration Office.

Adenway is 90 per cent owned by McNamara, with 5 per cent each being owned by McNamara director Christopher Hirst and Michael O'Brien of Bohola, Co Mayo.

One of the larger projects currently being constructed by Michael McNamara & Co is the office and apartment development at Elm Park, on the Merrion Road, Dublin, to which the website gives a project value of €400 million. The developer, Radora Developments, is a company owned by McNamara and fellow developer Jerry O'Reilly, as well as estate agent David Courtney. McNamara is involved in a range of investments and ventures with O'Reilly, some of which also include Courtney.

The latest accounts for Radora, for the eight months to the end of November 2006, show stock and work in progress valued at €389.4 million. Called-up share capital (the amount that the company has required shareholders to pay on the shares issued) is €90 million. During the eight months, the company was charged €76.5 million by Michael McNamara & Co for building services. The previous year the charge was €64.3 million.

Bank loans at the end of November 2006 were €303 million and were in part secured against guarantees from the shareholders limited to €62 million. The company has a number of mortgages registered with Anglo Irish Bank.

McNamara and O'Reilly have built an office and residential development at Barrow Street in Dublin 4. The construction company gives the value of the project as €75 million. The accounts for the client, Ashdew Ltd, for the period to the end of March 2006, show it had debtors of €83 million at the year's end, all of which was owed by group undertakings, and had net liabilities of €74,000.

The McNamara construction group was paid an undisclosed amount during the year, and at the year's end was owed €9.7 million. Also, the company had transactions with a partnership involving McNamara and O'Reilly, and at the year's end owed the partnership €85,847.

The accounts do not allow the reader to assess how much Ashdew was making on the development, which the accounts state is complete. Ashdew is owned by Belltrap, a holding company used by McNamara and O'Reilly for a number of their ventures. The accounts for the year to end November 2006 show the company made a capital distribution (that is, the amount paid out to its two shareholders) of €9.3 million, and paid out a dividend of €4 million on the previous year's retained profits. It had net assets of €23.9 million at the year's end. The group does not produce consolidated accounts.

The company owns a building at Bishops Court, Redmond Hill, Dublin 2, for which it receives €3.2 million annually in rent from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Department of Social and Family Affairs, and the Department of Foreign Affairs, according to the Office of Public Works. The leases are for 20 years.

A partnership comprising McNamara and O'Reilly receives millions of euro in rent from other properties they own, including hotels and other commercial properties.