Financial accounts: The company behind the Dublin cosmetic surgery clinic which lost a High Court claim for damages arising from a liposuction procedure in 2000 has accumulated financial losses of more than €2 million at the start of last year, according to its latest accounts.
Advanced Cosmetic Surgery Ltd operates clinics in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast. In his reserved judgment last week, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill awarded €18,300 to Maria Taylor Flynn, who claimed she was left with a bubble on her stomach after five litres of fat were taken from her in a liposuction procedure.
A spokeswoman for the company said its business would not suffer because of the court action. "Advanced Cosmetic Surgery has no reason to believe the court case will have any negative effect on business going forward," she said.
"In fact, business last week at all clinics in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Belfast was brisk and last Tuesday [ the day the judgment was made] was one of the busiest days Advanced Cosmetic Surgery has ever had for new consultations and inquiries."
The latest available accounts for the company show that the deficit in its profit and loss account stood at €2.11 million at the end of 2004, down from €2.25 million at the end of 2003.
As a small company, Advanced Cosmetic Surgery is entitled to file abridged accounts with the Companies Office. Such accounts do not reveal the level of the company's turnover or profit margins.
With the company's liabilities exceeding its assets by €2.26 million at the end of 2004, the accounts for that year say that it was "dependent on continued credit being made available from its creditors to carry out its day-to-day operations".
Accounts for 2005 will be filed next week and it is understood that they will show an improvement in the company's financial position.
According to the latest annual return, the company's 60 per cent shareholder is its managing director, Halina Ubermanowicz (now Halina Ashdown-Sheils).
Alan Kingdon of Chiswick in London and Oriel Family Trust in Manchester each own 20 per cent of the company.
In court last week, the judge said Ms Taylor Flynn was entitled to recover damages from the company only in respect of breach of contract. He was not satisfied that the surgeon, Dr Hassam Sulaiman, failed in his duty.
He also believed it could not be said that Ms Taylor Finn had been cosmetically degraded by the procedure.
The company's spokeswoman said the view that its business would not be damaged by the case was "based on the fact that it was made very clear by the judge that he did not attach any blame to the surgeon, and that having looked at before and after photographs of Ms Taylor Flynn, he did not believe she had been cosmetically damaged".
