West Properties managing assets for key funder

WEST Properties, the company owned by property investor Donal Mulryan which was planning a number of major regeneration schemes in Manchester, is now largely managing assets for new funder Morgan Stanley, according to newly-filed accounts.

The company has just filed accounts for the year to March 31, 2011, which show that it achieved a pre-tax profit of £366,044 (2010: £2.2m loss), although turnover almost halved to £1.8m (£3.4m).

Writing in the notes to the accounts, Mr Mulryan said: “Given the difficult general economic climate, the year has been a challenging one but the directors are hopeful that going forward the group’s performance will improve.

“The directors have recently succeeded in securing an operating and management agreement with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund to manage certain UK properties on their behalf. The directors believe this provides a platform and the cash flow to secure the future of the business.”

West Properties successfully built a number of schemes prior to the property crash, including the Skyline and Lumiere apartment buildings.

However, other major hotel-led developments such as the Origin scheme off Princess St and a mixed-use project on the site of the renaissance hotel near Deansgate were never completed. The company had been financed by the now defunct Anglo-Irish bank and loans on a portfolio of its assets were taken over by Ireland’s “bad bank” – the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA).

According to reports, a portfolio of loans worth around £220m secured against West Properties assets in Manchester and London were sold by NAMA at a 70% discount to Morgan Stanley for £65m in March.

The loan portfolio is the largest of three owed by West Properties – the other two are to Investec and Dunbar. Accounts for the year to March 31 2011 show that the company’s liabilities outweighed its assets by £1.1m.

However, a statement prepared by the firm’s directors added that they were confident the loans from Morgan Stanley would continue to be made available “and extended as necessary for the group to meet its overhead requirements”.

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