Profits have fallen sharply at the company that owns and operates three Dublin hospitals, St Michaels, St Vincent's Public and St Vincent's Private.

The three hospitals come under the ownership of St Vincent's Healthcare Group, which in turn is owned by the Sisters of Charity. According to the company's accounts for 2004, its profit before tax was down from €5.4 million to €846,043. This was despite revenue rising from €188 million to €247 million, a jump of over 30 per cent.

The company's direct costs were up from €163 million to €184 million, a rise of 12 per cent. Indirect costs were also up from €57 million to €60.7 million. The accounts say the group will continue providing "high quality healthcare" and will keep pace with improvements in medical and clinical healthcare in the period ahead.

Among the cost categories increasing during 2004 was payroll, which rose from €143 million to €158 million. The major driver of this was wage inflation. In terms of staff numbers there was a slight rise from 2,714 employees to 2,746. The number of nurses and doctors employed was relatively static, while the number of paramedics actually dropped.

The accounts value the buildings at St Vincent's University Hospital, on Merrion Road, on a historical cost basis at €74 million, while St Michael's in Dun Laoghaire is valued on the same basis at €381,626.The buildings at the St Vincent's Private were valued at €5.4 million.

The group's income comes from a variety of sources, but over €147 million came from capital grants supplied by the Eastern Regional Health Authority. The group also receives over €40 million from European Structural Funds.

The company also owns a subsidiary known as Pianora Limnited which operates the car parking facilities of the various hospitals and also engages in some property development.

This comany had income of €375,000 in 2004, the same as recorded in 2003. The company recorded a pretax loss of just over €500,000, down slightly from the year before. Accummulated losses at this company have now grown from €692,389 to €1.1 million.

At the weekend another Dublin hospital, the Mater Private, one of the State's best-known private medical centres, reported surging profits.

Its pretax profits were up by 74 per cent to € 13.56 million last year. The filings showed that the properites occupied by the hospital on Eccles Street, Dublin, were revalued during 2004 by Jones Lang La Salle. An unrealised surplus of €29.44 million was transferred to the revaluation reserve as a result of this exercise, bringing the year-end value of the land and buildings to €57.15 million after depreciation.

When added to the hospital's net profit of €11.55 million, the revaluation surplus brought its total gains in the year to €40.99 million. The latest accounts for Copperway Ltd, parent company of Mater Private Hospital Ltd, showed its turnover rose to €86 million last year from €71.74 million in 2003.