The figures reveal that O'Brien lent the company 5.6m in interest-free loans in 2005 in the latest in a series of cash injections which kept the company afloat since 2001. It now owes him 13.2m in loans which have no maturity date.

It has also emerged that O'Brien increased the firm's share capital by 36% and bought 7.5m worth of shares in the company at the end of July 2006.

The move seems to have been motivated by a desire to improve the company's balance sheet by increasing its shareholders' funds, an important measure of a company's financial value, particularly as O'Brien bought the shares, worth 12.7c each, for 12.79.

At the end of 2005, the company had a shareholders' funds deficit of 11.5m, up from 4.88m the previous year.

The accounts also reveal that the company continues to rely heavily on loans supplied by Ulster Bank, which financed its takeover ofthe Metromedia group's eastern European radio operations in 2004. The amount owed to the bank increased from 15.6m to 24.8 m during 2005.

O'Brien's continued heavy investment in Communicorp underlines his determination to build up a European media empire, as does his continuing share purchases in media group, Independent News & Media (IN&M), which owns 29.9% of this newspaper. O'Brien now holds a 9.1% stake in IN&M.