Future of property group hangs on Irish 鈥榖ad bank鈥 approval of business plan

Ballymore Properties slumped to a 拢224m loss for the year ending 31 March 2010, its accounts reveal.

The property group鈥檚 plunge into the red followed a 拢12.1m loss in 2008/2009 and a 拢4.6m profit in 2007/2008.

Turnover also plummeted by over half, down from 拢270m in 2009 to 拢115m.

Ballymore has been hit hard by Ireland鈥檚 property crash, with the majority of its of its bank borrowings under the ownership of the country鈥檚 National Asset Management Agency.

In its annual accounts the group said its future depended on NAMA鈥檚 approval of a seven year business plan, which NAMA is in the final stage of assessing. The plan sets out provisions for refinancing, joint ventures and disposals of non-core assets.

The directors said they were confident the business plan would be approved by NAMA.

Ballymore reduced its debt burden by 拢81.7m for the year to 31 March 2010 by selling off some of its non-core assets, including its Snow Hill development in Birmingham. But net debt still stood at 拢640m for the financial year.

The group wrote down 拢33.9m due to 鈥渢he impairment of tangible fixed assets鈥.

At the peak of the property boom, Ballymore was developing 18,000 homes and some 4 million ft虏 of commercial space in Britain alone, notably in London鈥檚 Docklands. Key developments include the Pan Peninsula building and the Ontario Tower in the docklands area.