Accumulated profits at the music firm owned by Belfast music legend Van Morrison last year reduced by €1 million (£834,877).
New accounts filed by Morrison’s Exile Productions Ltd show that accumulated profits decreased by £834,877 from £8.093 million to £7.25 million in the 12 months to the end of April 2021.
The period under review covers the first 12 months of the Covid-19 pandemic and the 76-year-old singer-songwriter found himself at the centre of controversy during the pandemic over a series of anti Covid-19 lockdown tunes and statements.
In the month of August covered by the accounts, the singer urged people to “fight the pseudoscience” around Covid-19 and a month later he released, at two-week intervals, a trio of tracks – named Born To Be Free, As I Walked Out, and No More Lockdown – containing controversial lyrics.
They included: “No more government overreach/No more fascist bullies/Disturbing our peace”.
'Hardship fund'
Last June, Morrison launched a third-round of his ‘Hardship Fund’ to support musicians in Northern Ireland who he said were “abandoned” by the government.
The new accounts show that the firm’s cash pile reduced by £1.79 million from £8.4 million to £6.6 million during the 12 months.
The reduction in accumulated profits at the company followed accumulated profits increasing by £440,322 from £7.653 million to £8.093 million in the prior 12 months to the end of April 2020.
The drop in cash followed cash funds at the company increasing by £2.3 million to £8.456 million over the prior 12-month period.
The abridged accounts for the Morrison firm don’t reveal the revenues recorded by the firm during the year. The numbers that the company employed last year remained at four.
Knighted in 2016 for his musical achievements and services to tourism and charitable causes in Northern Ireland, Morrison's output shows no sign of slowing down as he is set to play a string of gigs over the next number of weeks.
According to the Van Morrison website, Morrison is to play a number of gigs at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in February and gigs in the UK, Spain, Holland and Austria until August.
The intensely private Morrison has received widespread acclaim over his long career including six Grammy Awards, a Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, being inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
