CAR PARK operator Q-Park Management made €1 million in profits in 2008, according to the latest figures.

The Dutch-owned company, which manages car parks in Belfast, Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and a range of other centres, had a turnover of €4.4 million in 2008, 8.3 per cent below the €4.8 million it recorded the previous year.

After administrative expenses, the company made profits before tax of €1 million in 2008, a return that was in line with the surplus it recorded in 2007.

The company’s balance sheet remained stable over the period. It ended 2008 with €723,000 in shareholders’ funds, compared with €750,000 12 months earlier. It had close to €2 million in cash at the end of the year. The company’s chief sources of revenue are the management fees it is paid for operating the car parks and advertising. Q-Park operates more than 30 multistorey car parks in the State and says it attracts about three million customers a year. It has 11 sites in Dublin, four in Cork and three in Belfast. In 2008, it had 22 staff who were paid a total of €870,000. Last year, the company was one of a number of Dublin city centre businesses which opposed local authority restrictions on private cars at College Green during peak hours.

Q-Park Ireland, a subsidiary of the parent group, which is based in Maastricht, in Holland, owns the management company. The parent group has operations throughout western Europe and Scandinavia.