Richard Branson’s business blunders revealed in company accounts

Richard Branson might be the world’s best-known serial entrepreneur, but new financial data shows that not all of his ventures are successful.

Financial accounts for Branson’s Virgin Holdings, which hold the bulk of his private empire, have been lodged in London and the news isn’t good.

The accounts (for the 12 months to 31 March, 2008) show Branson wrote off more than ?300 million ($614 million) when it sold the Virgin Megastores retail business to a company called Zawi in 2007.

Zawi subsequently went in administration at the end of 2008 as the Megastore business crashed further into the red.

On a group basis, Virgin Holdings crashed from a profit of £151.7 million in 2007 to a loss of £227.3 million, after being hit with a one-off operating loss of £324.3 million.

A Virgin Group spokesman told Britain’s The Times newspaper that the one-off loss was mainly because of losses accumulated over many years at the Megastores, which were formally written off when the business was sold.

But that wasn’t the only dud investment. The Times also reports that Virgin Holdings was forced to write off nearly £21 million when it sold Virgin Vie cosmetics to a management buyout last year. Virgin Holdings also paid £8.8 million to unwind a licensing deal that allowed Vie to use the Virgin brand.

Finally, it has been revealed that Branson sold the assets for bridal business Virgin Brides were just £1 after the chain was closed. Branson famously shaved his beard and wore a wedding dress (see a great photo here) to launch the Brides business back in 1996.