Receiver of Lyrath Estate resort hotel receives €1.35m in fees

A self-made multi-millionaire, Mr McAuliffe established the Spectra Group and is part of the consortium that operates the GoSafe Speed vans for the Garda.

Set in 170 acres of mature parkland, Lyrath Estate Hotel is a multi-award winning hotel, spa and luxury wedding venue located only 1.2km from Kilkenny city.

Now, a series of receiver extracts recently filed with the Companies Office show Mr Wallace, on behalf of KPMG, has received €1.35m in receiver fees, with a management company operating the hotel receiving €1.5m in fees.

Underscoroing the growth of the business last year, the hotel had trade receipts of €6.5m between May and November last year — a record amount under the receivership for any six month period.

The amount generated in receipts over those six months takes in the peak summer trading period and compares with the €5.8m generated in the same period in 2014 — an increase of 12%.

Payments amounted to €5.6m in the period which meant the hotel firm showed a surplus of €900,000.

The trading receipts for the May to November period also compare favourably to the same period in 2013 when €5.2m in receipts were generated.

Total receipts during the receivership amount to €36.37m, and with payments totalling €34.3m there was a surplus of over €2m.

In the latest six-month period, the figures show €1.75m was paid in wages, while €2.62m was paid to suppliers. The Revenue Commissioners received €851,189.

The documents show that €750,000 has been paid to the secured creditor in an interim distribution.

Lyrath Estate Hotel has unlimited status and is therefore not required to file annual accounts.

However, the business did disclose it recorded a pre-tax loss of €278,278 in 2010 and this followed a loss of €1m in 2009.