MCD RESULTS
LN-Gaiety Holdings, the UK concert promotion company 49%-owned by Dermot Desmond’s MCD, recorded a 60% increase in operating profits to €15.5m in the year to March 2009, according to The Sunday Times.
The company, which promotes such high-profile events as the Reading Festival and the T in the Park, had sales of more than €120m on more than 4m tickets. LN-G is 51% owned by Live Nation Entertainment, the US promotions giant. It also owns the Mean Fiddler Music Group, which it bought in 2005.
The profits will come in handy if Desmond decides to bid for the Citywest Hotel, which is currently in receivership. The Sunday Business Post reports the impresario has expressed a preliminary interest in the complex, particularly the 4,000-seater conference centre.
The newspaper points out that although Desmond owns a number of venues around the country, buying Citywest would allow him compete on a grander scale with the newly-built Grand Canal Theatre and the o2.