THE companies that control Michael Cotter's Irish residential, commercial and industrial developments grew their sales by a combined €100m last year, despite the property collapse.

The unusually buoyant sales are revealed in accounts just filed for Park Developments (Dublin), which looks after Mr Cotter's residential and commercial activities in Ireland, and fellow Irish company Park Developments (Industrial).

In business for more than 40 years, Park Developments also has substantial activities in the UK. These are controlled by separate companies.

Surge

The larger of the two Irish units, Park Developments Dublin, boasted sales of almost €138m last year, well up on the €66m achieved in 2007.

Last year's figures are likely to have been buoyed by Mr Cotter's Northwest Business Park in Blanchardstown, which reportedly sold €40m of commercial space in the year to September 2008.

But while the surge in Park Development (Dublin's) 2008 sales appears to defy the recession, the downturn is firmly in evidence elsewhere in the accounts, with a pretax loss of €3.5m for last year. The loss stemmed from the performance of Park's joint ventures and associates.

Source:  www.independent.ie