Cullen's car business turned €900,000 profit for 2010

APPRENTICE SUPREMO Bill Cullen’s car sales business turned a €900,000 profit in 2010, but a writedown in the value of its land holdings left it with a loss for the year.

Mr Cullen, the "boss" in TV3's Apprenticeseries, owns five Renault car dealerships, which operate under the Bill Cullen Motor Group flag, and a number of hotels around the State.

Returns due to be made to the Companies’s Registration Office shortly show that sales at Glencullen Holdings, the group entity that owns his car dealerships, doubled to €52.4 million last year from €26.3 million in 2009.

Its operations made a profit of just over €945,000, compared with a €3.8 million loss in 2009.

The company wrote €1.8 million off the value of its properties, mainly dealership land and buildings, leaving it with an €880,000 loss. A €530,000 interest bill meant it had a pre-tax deficit of just over €1.4 million, compared with €10.5 million in 2009.

A group spokesman said yesterday that the writedown did not affect cashflows. Glencullen’s earnings before interest, tax and write offs (Ebidta – a measure of the cashflow it generates) was €2.2 million, he added. “Bill Cullen Motor Group increased new car sales by 600 per cent in 2010 compared to 2009,” he said. The group launched a fleet business during the year, while the Government scrappage scheme and a marketing drive by Renault helped to boost business. The spokesman said trade had continued to improve this year and the group expects to be profitable in 2011.

The group’s balance sheet shows shareholders’ funds stood at €8.3 million at the end of last year. It owed €14 million to its banks, which was secured over the company’s assets.

The group had a staff of 124 in 2010, down from 172 the previous year. Its wages and salaries bill in 2010 was €5.8 million, compared with €4.8 million in 2009.

Figures for another of Mr Cullen’s businesses, the Muckross Park Hotel, show it lost €3.8 million in 2010, €2.6 million of which was attributable to a writedown in the value of the property.

Hotel group directors, including Mr Cullen and his partner Jackie Lavin, acknowledged the losses pose a question mark over its ability to continue to trade as a going concern and that it was in talks with its banks at its year end.

Its figures show turnover in 2010 was flat at €2.6 million while overall costs rose by €100,000. The company’s operating losses came to €912,000, compared with €780,000 in 2009. Its net liabilities were €12 million.