Profits rise at Manchester Central
A Manchester City Council-owned company that controls the Manchester Central conference and exhibition centre saw profits increase by 36% in the year to March.
The council’s unaudited accounts show Destination Manchester, whose facilities hosted the Conservative Party’s last conference in opposition during the year, increased to £555,000. Net assets rose 78% to £13.9m. No turnover figure was given.
The council is owed £23.6m by the company – loans, due for repayment from July 2011, which are linked to its ownership of the venture.
Destination Manchester was set up in 2005 to acquire a controlling interest in the venue from the insurer Aviva and Modesole, a company owned by the 10 Greater Manchester authorities. Trafford was the only council not to sell-up at the time, retaining 5% until last October.
According to the council it loaned Destination Manchester £18.1m for this purpose. During the past year debt worth £7.5m was converted into share capital, leaving a balance of £10.6m.
A further £12.5m was committed to a group company, Manchester Central Convention Complex, to, “enhance its operational performance and overall contribution to the economic performance of the city”.
The council’s accounts also show it took an £11m dividend from Manchester Airports Group, in which it has a 55% stake. The airport saw operating profits fall 28% to £56m during the year.
Other interests include a 25% stake in National Car Parks Manchester which saw pre-tax profits drop 22% to £3.6m. It took a £1.2m dividend. It also owns all the shares in waste collector, Greater Manchester Waste, which reduced pre-tax losses from £477,000 to £17,000.
Overall there was a £181.6m deficit in the amount the council spent and what it received. But a statutory adjustment of £178.4m gave the authority a deficit of £3.2m. It dipped into general reserves to cover the gap, which now stand at £23m.
Its net worth decreased by £783m as a result of a £1bn pension liability, up by £628m during the year. The council stressed this was down to “less favourable financial assumptions” when the pension was valued in March. It added: “However statutory arrangements for funding the deficit mean that the financial position of the authority remains healthy.”
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