GALWAY COMPANY Thomas McDonogh Sons has posted pretax profits of €7.6 million for its financial year to September 30th, 2007, compared with a loss of €606,000 the previous year.

The company was boosted by a €6 million gain from asset sales last year, but paid corporation tax of €5.2 million at the end of the year, leaving the firm with an after-tax profit of €2.3 million.

The gain brought retained profits at September 30th, 2007, to €35 million, although the company gained €21.5 million from the revaluation of its assets, bringing shareholders' funds to €72 million.

The firm, which has diversified from agri-business into building materials, hardware and property investment in recent years, recorded a drop of 1.7 per cent in turnover, although some €3.9 million of its turnover in 2006 related to discontinued operations.

Operating profit in its continuing businesses rose to €1.9 million in 2007, compared with a loss of €428,000 the previous year.

The business has developed large properties in Galway.

The company developed Dockgate, a 64,600 sq ft office, residential and retail project, on the quays in Galway where the company's former warehouses were based.

It has also developed two office blocks nearby called Queensgate.

McDonogh Properties owns a number of properties in Belgium and France, including a building on Avenue de Beaulieu in Brussels, leased to the European Commission, and another building in the Belgian capital next to the European Parliament. The company is financed by Bank of Ireland at home and Fortis in Belgium.

The share of the company's turnover from wholesale trade sales fell in its 2007 fiscal year to €16.9 million from €21 million a year earlier, while the firm's rental income rose to €4.8 million from €1.7 million, reflecting McDonogh's increased investment in property.