Future of Dublin pasta cafe tied in to rent talks

THE OPERATORS of Carluccio’s restaurant on the corner of Duke Street and Dawson Street in Dublin are again in negotiations with their landlords.

The outcome will determine the future viability of the business, according to accounts just filed by the operating company.

In 2010 the restaurant closed for a week but reopened following negotiations that are believed to have led to a rent reduction.

The restaurant is based in buildings that were bought in December 2006 by a partnership that included the then AIB chairman, Dermot Gleeson SC, for €20 million.

The partnership entered a 20-year lease with Carluccio’s at a then annual rent understood to have been €680,000.

Accounts for Carluccio’s Ireland Ltd for the period to the end of September 2011 show its accumulated losses increased to €3.06 million from €2.63 million during the year, leaving equity shareholders’ funds of €1.2 million at the end of the period.

In notes to the accounts, the directors state that ongoing negotiations with the restaurant’s landlords will dictate the future viability of the business. The accounts were approved by the board on August 23rd.

The company operates in the hospitality sector and is dependent on the state of the economy, tourism and consumer confidence, all of which continue to be challenging, the accounts state.

Despite these challenges, the company continues to trade well, and its operational metrics, with the exception of rent, are good.

“The future viability of the business will be dependent on the outcome of the ongoing rent discussions with the landlord. The accounts have been prepared on a going concern basis on the assumption that these negotiations will be successful.” The previous year’s accounts also contained a reference to ongoing negotiations with the landlord.

The accounts show that directors Ronald Bolger and Peter Murray each own 26.58 per cent of the company while directors Philip Ryan and Stephen Quinn each own just under 5 per cent. The accounts state that Mr Ryan increased his shareholding in the period since the end of September 2011. Mr Murray is a former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank.

Other investors in the business were organised by NCB.

The Duke Co-Ownership Partnership bought the adjoining buildings on Duke Street and Dawson Street in 2006.

Documents in the registry of deeds show that a mortgage taken out at the time with Bank of Ireland, registered against 11 and 12 Duke Street and 52 Dawson Street, involved the following owners and shareholdings: Bryan McSharry, Dublin 4 (2.36 per cent); Brooklawn Property Holding Company Ltd (9.46 per cent); Jonathan FitzPatrick, Greystones, Co Wicklow (6.76 per cent); David O’Rourke, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 (4.73 per cent); Peter Small, Blackrock, Co Dublin (3.38 per cent); Philip Munnelly, England (9.46 per cent); Dermot Gleeson (6.76 per cent); Tom O’Connor, Shankill, Co Dublin (4.73 per cent); Alison Rohan, Rathmines, Dublin (1.35 per cent); Deirdre Foley, Ranelagh, Dublin 4; David Arnold, Foxrock, Dublin, and Brendan O’Mara, Stillorgan, Dublin,

The last three were directors the D2 Property business and had a 49.66 per cent shareholding between them.