DUNDRUM CENTRE DEVELOPER IN NAMA TALKS - The Irish Independent says developer Joe O'Reilly, famous for developing the Dundrum Town Centre, has opened negotiations with NAMA about his borrowings as the agency examines the business plans of the top 10 developers.
'Discussions are taking place with the company's lenders, including the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), regarding the company's borrowings,' the paper quotes the auditors to Mr O'Reilly's company, Teba, as stating.
The Indo says most of Mr O'Reilly's companies do not have to publish financial information as they have unlimited liability status, but they are still required to publish an auditor's report. In this case the report is submitted by BDO, the accountancy practice, to the directors.
The report says Teba incurred 'significant losses' in the year ended December 31 2008. 'The company's ability to continue as a going concern is dependent on the continued support of its lenders,' state the auditors.
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TICKET SALES DIP HITS DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL - The Irish Times says the Dublin Theatre Festival more than doubled its trading deficit to €113,649 last year as income from ticket sales fell by more than a third. The paper quotes accounts for 2009 as showing that the company's accumulated shortfall now stands at €98,246.
The company said it has implemented a 'comprehensive budgetary review' which will allow the festival to trade out of the deficit over the next three years. The company's primary focus is the annual theatre festival, now in its 53rd year, which runs in September and October each year.
The accounts for Dublin Theatre Festival Ltd show the company's total income shrank by 14% to €2.5m last year. Ticket sales were particularly affected, dropping from €1.16m in 2008 to €730,000.
As a result, Arts Council funding accounted for the bulk of the company's income last year. Funding from the State agency stood at €870,000 last year, an increase of €37,630 or 4.5% on the previous year. However, other sponsorship fell by more than a fifth to €653,000, according to accounts quoted by the paper.
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BETTING LEVY DROP HITS UK RACING - The Financial Times says the scale of the funding crisis in British horseracing became clear yesterday after the sport's governing body announced plans to scrap 10% of race fixtures next season.
The British Horseracing Authority said it would publish the 2011 fixture list on September 23, two months late, and that 150 fixtures would be suspended. They can be reinstated only if affected racecourses and the Horsemen's Group, which represents owners, trainers, stable staff and jockeys, come up with self-funding solutions.
The FT says horseracing is suffering from a sharp fall in the annual horseracing betting levy, which provides prize money and is crucial to the livelihoods of trainers, jockeys and stable staff. The BHA says the levy has fallen by a third in two years and is forecast to be only £70m this year.
The levy is a statutory duty on bookmakers to provide a percentage of their profits to the racing industry. But the FT says bookmakers are increasingly moving their businesses offshore to reduce their levy payments.
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BRITISH GOVERNMENT 'WINNING ECONOMY ARGUMENT' - The Guardian says David Cameron's first 100 days in Downing Street have seen Britain's coalition government win the key argument over the economy, with a Guardian/ICM poll today showing that voters back austerity measures to reduce Britain's record peacetime budget deficit.
The paper says a monthly snapshot of public opinion suggests strong initial support for Chancellor George Osborne's controversial cuts-based recovery strategy.
Despite claims from Labour that front-loaded spending cuts risk a double-dip recession and will hit the poorest the hardest, 44% of those polled said the coalition was doing a good job in securing economic recovery against 37% who said it was doing a bad job.
According to the Guardian, the poll also showed voters were prepared to back Osborne, who has so far been successful in blaming his inheritance from Alistair Darling for fiscal pain that will see VAT rise to 20% in January and the most sustained cut in public spending since the war. While a third of voters (33%) said the Chancellor was doing a bad job, 42% said he was doing a good job.
