ALSTEAD SECURITIES, a property holding company in the John Byrne property group, made a pretax profit of €4.8 million in 2009, according to accounts just filed.

The accounts for it and other related companies show marked devaluations of the properties they own.

In the case of Alstead, which owns a range of Dublin city properties including Parnell House on Parnell Square, the building used by the Companies Registration Office, investment properties were reduced in value by €1.12 million, to €46 million.

A dividend of €3.85 million was paid.

The company is owned by Carlisle Trust, which is in turn owned by a Cayman Islands company owned by a Cayman trust.

The abridged accounts for Smithfield Property Development Ltd, which is associated with property development in the Church Street area of Dublin, show its financial assets fell in value to €84.7 million from €108.7 million.

The accounts of Dublin City Estates Ltd, which is the owner of D’Olier House on D’Olier Street, Dublin, and other properties, show a fall in the value of its financial assets of €2.8 million, to €8 million, during 2009.

Carlisle Trust Ltd, a holding company for the above mentioned companies, had a pretax profit of €1.26 million during 2009.

The companies directors are John Byrne (88), his wife Ciara, and their son John.

The accounts show the companies have loans of more than €103 million from the Bank of Ireland and KBC Bank. There is no mention in the accounts of the National Asset Management Agency.

Group company Prince’s Investments Ltd, owner of the Brandon Hotel, Tralee, Co Kerry, had a judgment mortgage registered against it by Quinn Insurance in February of last year.

The amount was €132,056. The company has not yet registered its 2009 accounts.