THE ABBEY Theatre in Dublin sustained a 95 per cent drop in its operating surplus last year, according to the latest accounts filed by its operating company.
Abbey Theatre Amharclann Na Mainistreach had an operating surplus of €1.24 million in 2007 compared to €56,485 at the end of December 2008.
The accounts, filed with the Companies’ Office, show that the company – which also operates the Peacock Theatre – would have suffered a €9.9 million deficit if it did not have the support of a €10 million grant from the Arts Council.
In the accounts, the directors state that Arts Council funding for 2009 had dropped from €10 million to €8.35 million – a drop of €1.65 million.
The returns show the Abbey increased its income last year by €300,000, or 8 per cent, from €3.69 million to €3.72 million. However, the company’s expenses increased by 24 per cent from €10.9 million to €13.6 million.
The filings show that production costs increased by 25.8 per cent from €5.7 million to €7.1 million, while the company’s marketing and public relations budget increased by 39.7 per cent from €1.3 million to €1.8 million.
This resulted in the company’s deficit, before grant-aid funding, increasing last year by 36 per cent from €7.2 million to €9.9 million.
The filings show that the Abbey’s staff costs of €6.93 million accounted for 69 per cent of the theatre company’s costs last year, with its staff number increasing from 141 to 162 during 2008.
A breakdown of the staff numbers show that the number of production staff increased by 10 to 91; the number of front-of-house staff increased by four to 26; and the number of administrative staff increasing by seven to 35.
The theatre company incurred a loss of €2 million on its pension fund last year compared to a gain of €652,089 in 2007.
This reduced the company’s surplus from €3.1 million at the start of 2008 to €1.1 million at the end of the year.
The company – which has charitable status and therefore pays no tax – had no bank borrowings at the end of December 2008.
The filings show that the Abbey’s restructuring costs in 2008 totalled €151,412 compared to €22,371 in 2007.
Abbey director Fiach MacConghail said yesterday that the performance of the Abbey had to be looked at over a three-year period rather than a “snapshot” of a single year’s accounts.
Over the years 2006-2008, when the Abbey was given three years, and additional Arts Council funding, to turn itself around, it built up capacity in a number of areas, as reported in its three-year review earlier this year.
The company improved its marketing and press, installed a new box office system, refurbished the theatre, increased pay rates for actors and others, and has mounted bigger productions with larger casts. All this involved an increase in costs.
The Abbey’s three-year review, published April last, records a €3.36 million surplus at the end of the period. However, it is currently restructuring and cutting jobs.