The figures show that the firm's profits for the year were 11,521, compared with 11,710 the previous year.

Turnover figures are unavailable due to the small size of the firm.

Desmond owns 50% of the firm with the remainder held by Justin Carty, who manages the business on a dayto-day basis.

Chronicle's main business is on-course betting at leading racecourses in Ireland and Britain such as Aintree, Ascot and Cheltenham, internet betting and phone betting. It has a small number of betting shops in Ireland.

It forms one element of Desmond's betting empire, which also includes a casino in the centre of Dublin and internet betting exchange Betdaq.

Last year, it was rumoured that betting giant Ladbrokes was in talks about with Desmond about purchasing these businesses but no deal was concluded.