Revenue steps up enforcement actions on debt
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RTÉ News
11 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Property prices see fastest monthly growth since November
New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that property prices registered monthly growth of 0.9% in June, the highest rate since November last year. Home prices across the country grew by 7.8% in the year to June, unchanged from the rate of growth the previous month, the CSO added. The CSO said the median price of a home purchased in June was €370,000. Today's figures show that property prices in Dublin - both houses and apartments - rose by 6.6% and prices outside Dublin were up by 8.8% compared with June last year. In the 12 months to June, the highest house price growth in Dublin was in Fingal at 8% while both Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and South Dublin saw a rise of 5.5%. Outside of Dublin, house prices were up by 9% and apartment prices rose by 6.6%. The region outside of Dublin that saw the largest growth in house prices was the West (Galway, Mayo, and Roscommon) at 10.3%, while at the other end of the scale, the South-East (Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, and Wexford) saw a 7.1% rise. The CSO noted that the highest median price paid for a home was €675,000 in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, while the lowest was €190,000 in Leitrim. Meanwhile, the most expensive Eircode area over the 12 months to June 2025 was A94 (Blackrock, Dublin) with a median price of €780,000, while F45 (Castlerea, Roscommon) had the least expensive price of €148,000. The CSO said that Dublin residential property prices are 5.9% higher than their February 2007 peak, while residential property prices in the Rest of Ireland are 21.8% higher than their May 2007 peak. Today's figures also show that a total of 4,029 home purchases were filed with Revenue, an increase of 13.1% increase compared with the 3,563 purchases in June last year and a 5.4% increase compared with the 3,824 purchases in May. Existing homes accounted for 76.7% of the transactions filed in June, an increase of 8.2% compared with June 2024. The balance of 23.3% were new homes, which marked a rise of 32.9% on the same time last year. Commenting on the CSO figures, Trevor Grant, Chairperson of Irish Mortgage Advisors, said that the continued uptick in the rate of annual house price inflation will be a disappointment for would-be house buyers as it means houses are becoming more unaffordable for many of them. He said that ultimately, the biggest driver of Irish house price inflation is the shortage of homes coupled with the pent-up demand for housing and an expanding population. Mr Grant noted that the recent 35% increase in housing completions is encouraging, but housing completions are still nowhere near where they need to be. "The shortage of new homes available to private buyers means many first-time buyers are bidding against trader-uppers/movers, which in turn is driving up second-hand prices. It's becoming increasingly common for properties to sell for 20% above the asking price," he added.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Lee Hotels group pays out €6m in dividends over two years
The family owned Lee Hotels group which operates the Mespil Hotel in Dublin 4 and the Sligo Park Hotel has paid out combined equity dividends of €6 million over the past two years. Consolidated accounts filed by Lee Hotels show that pretax profits declined by 13 per cent to €5.19 million in the 12 months to the end of September 2024. This followed revenues remaining flat at €24 million where the group's Mespil Hotel contributed €14.43 million and the Sligo Park Hotel generated €9.59 million. The four star Sligo Park Hotel in Sligo town operates 136 bedrooms while the four star Mespil Hotel has 259 rooms. READ MORE In January 2024, Dublin City Council granted planning permission to the Mespil Hotel for an additional 47 rooms to bring the total number to 306 and included a proposal to extend the existing bar area into the terrace area on Burlington Road. However, planning consultants for the hotel firm, BMA Planning told the council in a follow up application last December that 'for operational and commercial reasons, the applicant now wishes to proceed with the bar extension in isolation from the remainder of the permitted works' and planning permission was granted in March of this year for the bar extension. The hotel group is controlled by the Kidney family and last year Lee Hotels paid out €2 million in dividends and this followed a dividend payout of €4 million in the prior year. Grace , Denis , Susanne and John Kidney each own 20 per cent of the business with Robert Lee Kidney, Deirdre Kidney and Laoise Sareen sharing the final 20 per cent of the business. The directors' note with the accounts said that trading for the year was satisfactory. The group recorded a post tax profit of €4.47 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €712,069. Numbers employed increased by one to 248 as staff costs increased marginally from €8.41 million to €8.46 million. Directors' pay decreased from €1.02 million to €816,663.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
Lifestyle seen returning to profit this year
The directors of Lifestyle Sports expect the business to return to profit in the current year. New accounts filed by Lifestyle Sports (Ireland) Ltd show the retailer's pre-tax losses halved to €1.2 million in the 12 months to the end of September 28th. Revenues at the business dipping slightly from €104.99 million to €104.18 million. Still, in their report, the directors state that the business has recorded revenue growth since the end of last September. READ MORE The company operates the Lifestyle Sports business through 38 bricks and mortar stores and online. In their report, they state that 'the company's profitability continued with increased momentum post year end and for the quarter ended December 31st 2024, which includes the key Black Friday and Christmas trading period, the company reported a €1.2m or 23pc increase in EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation). They state that 'this increase in cash profitability was a function of not just continuing cost savings but a welcome return to top line growth with 'like for like' revenue growth of 4.5 per cent'. They further add that they note that 'this growth in revenue was broad based'. The directors note that 'this performance, in what remains a challenging and competitive market, was validation of the company's strategy based on premium omni channel retailing focussed on the stylised athlete, benefitting from exclusive access to some of the most popular sports inspired brands in Ireland'. 'Based on this performance the company is expected to return to profitability in the year ended September 27th 2025'. Lifestyle Sports is owned by the Co Wexford based Stafford Group and reflecting on the 2024 fiscal performance, the directors state that the results for the year 'were encouraging'. The increased cash profitability contributed to a €1.53m reduction in operating losses to €408,000. Exceptional costs of €624,372 relating to store closure costs and restructuring costs contributed to the pre-tax loss of €1.23 million. Numbers employed reduced from 408 to 383 as staff costs declined from €13.5 million to €13.45 million. In a post balance sheet event, the directors reveal that the company participated in the successful re-financing of the Stafford Group with Bank of Ireland, to put in place five year facilities maturing in November 2029. They added that having successfully paid down almost €7 million of bank debt over the preceding 12 months from a combination of asset disposals and tighter working capital management, the Stafford Group refinanced its total banking facilities of €22.7 million through a combination of term loans amounting to €19.2 million and overdraft facilities amounting to €3.5 million.
