Loss of €4.7m for Ely Medical in 2007

ELY MEDICAL Group, the company which owns laser eye surgery business Optilase and beauty salons Body Clinic and Therapie, posted a €4.7 million loss for the year ended December 31st, 2007, compared to a loss of €231,763 a year earlier, according to recently filed accounts at the Companies Registration Office.

The accounts give an insight into the financial affairs of the company, which successfully emerged from an examinership process last year.

The company, which was set up by businessman Paul McGlade, the founder and former owner of Champion Sports, entered voluntary examinership in early 2009.

The company succeeded in staving off a takeover bid from British laser eye treatment company Ultralase and successfully emerged from examinership after creditors agreed to a scheme of arrangement which involved an injection of cash by Mr McGlade and unsecured creditors taking a 90 per cent writedown on their debts.

According to the auditors’ report attached to the accounts, the auditors failed to qualify the 2007 accounts for the group.

The auditors noted that the company’s net assets were less than half its called-up share capital on the balance sheet date, a situation which may give rise to an egm being called.

According to the accounts, the company’s subsidiary companies Linrath Holdings, which owns Therapie beauty salon on Molesworth Street, Body Clinics and Ely Clinic were profit-making in 2007. E Fitness Ireland and Optilase made a loss.

Accounts for Optilase show the eye laser surgery business made a loss of €512,110 in 2007 and had negative reserves of €994,273 at the end of that year. The net current liabilities of the company were just over €1 million (€1,056,426) compared to €530,806 a year earlier.