A management buyout (MBO) at Green Property is not on the agenda, managing director Mr Stephen Vernon said yesterday.

"An MBO is now a non-issue," he said after the company's annual general meeting. A planned MBO of the property group was abandoned last year. Mr Vernon said the company had looked at an MBO as a way to provide more value to shareholders. He said the price at which it could have been done was not a price with which he felt comfortable and would not deliver adequate shareholder value.

"I didn't want to ally myself with what I thought was not fair value," Mr Vernon said.

He also said there were no serious potential buyers for the company. Last November, talks with Treasury Holdings over a possible bid for Green Property collapsed. "The whole thing has gone away and we're getting on with business," he said.

Green Property bought back more than 5 per cent of its shares following the collapse of the planned MBO and the decision by Treasury Holdings not to bid for the company.

Responding to a shareholder on whether the company would avail of a special resolution passed to renew the company's authority to buy its own shares, chairman Mr Ray MacSharry said: "It's not our intention to be running in and out of the market but, where appropriate, we will do so."

Green Property has continued to record strong growth, with a 57 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to €66.1 million (£52.06 million) in 2000, up from €42.2 million in 1999. The results benefited from a rise in rental income to €90.3 million from €73.4 million.

Earnings per share grew by 54 per cent to 49.11 cents from 30.75 cents. Net assets per share rose to €10.56, compared with €8.13 at the end of 1999.

Net trading profits of €2.86 million reflected the impact of portfolio rationalisation, the company said, while the portfolio purchased from P&O in joint venture with the Whitehall Fund accounted for joint venture profits of €28.55 million.

Mr Vernon said he expected growth to continue in Ireland, particularly in the retail and central Dublin office markets, though at a slower rate than in recent years. The economic outlook in its UK markets was stable, particularly with the prospect of lower interest rates.