DUBLIN WATERWORLD, the former operator of the National Aquatic Centre, incurred a loss of €52,855 in 2009 and has liabilities exceeding €4 million, according to accounts recently filed at the Companies Office.

With no turnover recorded during the year, the loss relates to an impairment of €21,685 on financial assets and administrative expenses totalling €33,893.

Losses incurred by the company, which has been at the centre of a long-running legal dispute, more than halved last year. In 2008 its losses arrived at €117,992.

The expenses incurred during the year were reduced from the €83,510 expenses it incurred in 2008, a year when it had turnover of €14,789. The company’s accounts state it has financial assets worth €642,731.

However, the company owes its creditors €4.6 million, taking its net liabilities to more than €4 million. The group says it meets its day-to-day capital requirements through a current account funded by financial support from the directors, including the company’s ultimate controller, John Moriarty, who owns 60 per cent of the company.

The directors note that since the end of the financial year, it has won its appeal at the Supreme Court in relation to a €10.2 million VAT dispute. Campus Stadium Ireland Development, the State company responsible for the centre, alleged that Dublin Waterworld owed the money on its lease interest in the aquatic centre.

Since winning the appeal, the company has initiated proceedings against Bam, the construction firm behind the centre (formerly Rohcon), to recover losses connected with alleged defects.