Carlisle Trust property profits soar to €9.38m

THE shareholders of the property group established by one of Ireland’s largest property developers, the late John Byrne, shared a €5.79m dividend bonanza in 2016.

The native of Co Kerry died in October 2013 in his 94th year and figures for his Carlisle Trust Ltd lodged with the Companies Office show that the firm recorded profits of €9.38m in 2016.

The company’s ultimate parent undertaking is Prospect Holdings, an unlimited Cayman Island company which is controlled by a Cayman Island Trust.

At the end of December 2016, the Carlisle Trust was sitting on accumulated profits of €70m.

The dividend of 2016 follow a dividend payout of €6m in 2015.

A subsidiary of the Carlisle Trust is Alstead Securities and it was last year paid €3.3m by the State for the lease of two properties in the Parnell Square area of Dublin.

The accounts show that a subsidiary, Alstead Securities, recorded a profit of €14.4m in 2016.

Through a combination of the dividend payout and the €9.38m profit recorded in 2016, accumulated profits at Carlisle Trust Ltd increased by €3.6m from €66.4m to €70m.

The firm enjoyed a €6.9m jump in the value of its investment property portfolio in 2016 and the portfolio was valued at €49.2m at the end of 2016.

The firm’s cash pile reduced further, from €6.2m to €5.9m.

The dividend pay-outs of the two past two years followed a dividend payout of €5.5m in 2014.

The company has recorded strong profits over recent years and the €9.3m profit in 2016 followed profits of €3.6m in 2016 and €11m in 2015.