FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS FOR the property company that sold Clerys department store have revealed it made a profit of more than €7.7 million because of flood damage in the building two years ago.

A severe storm in the summer of 2013 resulted in significant flood damage at the O’Connell Street store. It was forced to shut down for a number of months but reopened in time for the busy Christmas period.

However the store was sold by Gordon Brothers in June this year and closed overnight leaving staff – and the rest of the country – in shock.

Financial accounts for OCS Properties, the entity that now owns the building, show the insurance claim by Gordon Brothers resulted in a payout that was significantly higher than the damage was valued at on the books.

The more than €7.7 million profit is explained in the accounts, which cover the year to the end of January 2015, as “the result of proceeds received in excess of the net book value of assets destroyed”.

Last month the company that formerly operated Clerys was officially wound up. Liquidators are now investigating the conduct of the former directors in the year prior to liquidation.

Read: The company that ran Clerys has been officially wound up>

Read: There’s now an unofficial Clerys pop-up shop on Parnell Street>