D2 losses exceed €17m for 2008

COMPANIES IN the D2 Private property investment group, owned by David Arnold and Deirdre Foley, recorded losses of more than €17 million during the calendar year 2008, according to accounts filed recently.

The accounts for the companies state they were prepared on a going concern basis with the companies dependent on financial support from their bankers.

The property group is owned by Mr Arnold and Ms Foley. Ms Foley said in 2008 that D2 intended spending €500 million on property that year, which would have brought the value of its portfolio up to €2 billion.

Filings in the Companies Registration Office show mortgages registered by Anglo Irish Bank, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and Bank of Ireland.

The group’s website says it has acquired and manages a central London property portfolio in excess of £1.4 billion of blue-chip commercial office buildings. “We also have a substantial investment and development portfolio in Ireland comprising land, residential and commercial assets.”

The accounts for the group holding company, D2 Private Ltd, show it had net assets of €394,205 at year’s end. During the year the company invested in shares and loan notes of Victoria SA, a company based in Luxembourg, at a cost of £4.94 million.

The investment is understood to be linked to the purchase of 1-19 Victoria Street, London, for £175 million.

Notes to the accounts show D2 rents its offices on Harcourt Terrace, Dublin 2, from The Scoop Co-ownership, a vehicle owned by Mr Arnold and Ms Foley. The rent was €165,000 per annum.

The accounts for the D2 subsidiary, Endlich Ltd, show it suffered a loss in 2008 of €14.77 million and had net liabilities of €17.6 million at year’s end. The accounts show a fall in the value of the company’s development property to €22 million, from €34.38 million at the end of 2007.

The company’s bank loans are secured against a number of items including a joint and several guarantees for €15.5 million and €3.3 million against unnamed current and former directors.

At year’s end Endlich owed €4.76 million to D2 Private.