The company behind the operation and maintenance of the Convention Centre Dublin reported an operating profit of €113,272 in the year to February 2011, reversing its loss of €22,943 for 2010.

According to accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office, Spencer Dock Convention Centre, a subsidiary of Treasury Holdings, which runs the convention centre on behalf of the Office of Public Works, reported an almost 70 per cent increase in turnover up to € 11.4 million. The centre opened in August 2010.

According to the directors’ report, the centre continues to “trade within expectations” but it points out that the main risk to the operation of the convention centre is the global economic downturn, which has contributed to a “challenging and competitive domestic and international conferencing environment”.

In its first year of operation, the convention centre received a State payment of more than € 43 million, representing a subsidy of more than € 500 for each visitor to events held in the centre in its first year. These payments are part of the public- private partnership deal agreed in 2007.

Employment averaged 56 during the year, up from 16 in 2010, with total wage costs of € 2.3 million, up from € 1 million.