The High Court awarded Cosmol ine Trading Limited €1,231,250 in compensation for the value of its supermarket business, plus simple interest at 6% a year from 1 January 2005 until payment. The defendants, D.H. Burke and Son Limited and D.H.B. Holdings Limited, received credits totalling €305,323 against the compensation and interest calculated by the court.
Mr Justice Finnegan delivered the judgment on 14 June 2007, assessing compensation after an earlier judgment on 8 February 2006 had refused the plaintiff’s claim for relief in rem. The court treated 1 January 2005 as the date negotiations finally ended and the date for valuing the business. It said the parties had acted earlier in anticipation of reaching an agreement, but had not concluded one.
The plaintiff had left about half of its Abbey Trinity premises on 1 January 2003 and continued trading from the remainder until March 2004. It then traded from the defendants’ rent-free Bontex premises until 5 February 2005, when it stopped trading. The Abbey Trinity premises had been demolished, and redevelopment was substantially complete by 1 January 2005.
The parties’ valuation experts differed on the appropriate turnover multiple. The judge selected 12.5 times gross weekly turnover, within a range of 10 to 20. The agreed 2002 weekly turnover was €98,500. Taking account of competition from other supermarkets and the premises’ condition and limited parking, the judge was not satisfied that turnover would have grown by the valuation date. The resulting business valuation was €1,231,250.
The plaintiff also sought lost profits. The judge rejected that claim, finding that awarding profits on top of the business value and interest would give the plaintiff a double benefit. The plaintiff’s move from Abbey Trinity had been requested by the defendants to facilitate their development. The court made no rent deduction for the plaintiff’s occupation of the original premises and Bontex after 1 January 2003.
The credits allowed were €200,000 for surrendering leased premises at Boyle and Drumshanbo, €40,323 in Roscommon rent forgone, €55,000 paid by the defendants’ builder to secure an earlier move to Bontex, and €10,000 for use of an intoxicating liquor licence at the plaintiff’s Circular Road, Tuam, off-licence. The court said it had no evidence of the licence’s annual value but considered an allowance appropriate.
The judgment set out the compensation, interest and credits. The source does not state a final net amount after applying the credits or record any further order.