Mount Carmel predicts return to profit

Mount Carmel Hospital, the last private maternity hospital in the State, is predicting a return to profitability in advance of its sale in the autumn.

The hospital, whose loans are controlled by the National Asset Management Agency, was unprofitable last year but is forecasting positive earnings in 2013, when the full impact of a cost-reduction programme is felt.

It has just filed accounts for 2009 and 2010, which show pretax losses of €1.85 million and €1.18 million respectively. Turnover fell €4.5 million to €36.5 million because of increased competition and a fall in the numbers with private health insurance.

Accounts for 2011 and 2012 are under audit and are expected to be filed in the coming months. The hospital said the delay in filing accounts was to allow for a restructuring of the Mount Carmel Medical Group, which up to now included Aut Even Hospital in Kilkenny and St Joseph’s Hospital in Sligo.

'Dependent' on Nama
The accounts say the company, which had net liabilities of €35 million at the end of 2010, was "totally dependent" on Nama. Institutional debt totalling €79 million was transferred to the agency in 2010, but its facilities run out at the end of this year.

Operating costs have fallen from €42 million in 2008 to an expected €31 million this year. The hospital employs about 350 staff, including 92 consultants.

Twenty expressions of interest have been received from parties interested in buying the hospital. A shortlist has been drawn up which includes St James’s Hospital and a number of private operators, and a successful bidder is expected to be chosen in the coming weeks with a view to completion of the sale in the autumn.

Sources said it was expected Mount Carmel would be sold as a going concern, thereby securing the future of the Churchtown facility as a hospital providing obstetric and other services.

Gerry Conlon
Mount Carmel's debt was transferred to Nama in November 2010 as part of a wider property portfolio built up by developer Gerry Conlon. Since then, Nama has been providing working capital to the hospital in advance of its anticipated sale.

The directors of the Mount Carmel Medical Group, Mr Conlon and his wife Margaret, are not actively involved in the business. Mr Conlon is one of the Maple 10, a group of customers who were lent €451 million to buy a 10 per cent stake in Anglo Irish Bank following the unwinding of Sean Quinn’s stake in Anglo, which he acquired through contracts for difference.

Mount Carmel was purchased from the Little Company of Mary Sisters for more than €60 million in 2006 but most of this has been written off. The hospital cannot be sold without the approval of Nama.

Its days as a standalone unit may be numbered, given the findings of a strategic review which recommends that its future role should be as an integral part of the wider healthcare system through partnerships with other private or public hospitals.