New accounts filed by Richard Quirke’s Dublin Pool and Juke Box Company Ltd show that it recorded pre-tax profits of €8.78m last year following cumulative losses of €17.79m over the preceding four years.
The Carlton Entertainment business is today run by Mr Quirke’s daughter, Debbie Lawrence, and its flagship outlet is the Carlton Casino – formerly Dr Quirkey’s Good Time Emporium – on Dublin’s O’Connell Street.
The directors state that the principal activity of the company “is the provision of diverse entertainment offerings” at a number of venues in Dublin, and the €8.78m pre-tax profits for the 12 months to the end of June include a non-cash €5.97m gain arising from the reversal of an asset impairment incurred before 2023.
The €17.79m cumulative losses over the preceding four years coincided with the impact of Covid-19 which shut down the business from March 2020 to August 2021.
The losses also coincided with an alleged €2.56m fraud perpetrated on the business that was first uncovered by Richard Quirke and another director in December 2020.
In response to the alleged fraud, the firm hired external forensic consultants, and previous accounts filed revealed that “this led to the identification of unpaid taxation and interest liabilities”.
The interest bill from the last number of years paid on overdue tax by the casino and arcade business now totals €2.6m. This followed €427,972 paid out last year on overdue tax, made up of interest of €136,221 and a €291,751 penalty on overdue tax.
Ms Davison’s husband Wesley Quirke is a member of the board along with Richard Quirke, Anne Quirke, Andrew Quirke, Ms Lawrence and Austin Kenny.
Aggregate pay to directors doubled from €489,725 to €902,367.
The company recorded an operating profit of €9.2m before the interest payments of €427,972 on overdue tax were taken into account. Numbers employed remained at 122 as staff costs increased sharply to €5.75m.
The business’s shareholder funds totalled €25.54m that included accumulated profits of €23.33m.
The business’s cash funds increased to €4.75m from €4.22m.
The loss takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.24m.