According to articles published this weekend by the Irish tabloids The Mirror (Saturday) and the Sunday Independent (Sunday), The Cranberries lost a whopping €1.3 million of their own funds during the year 2002. This information comes from the recently-filed financial reports for their self- owned company, Curtain Call Limited.

The filed accounts show that Curtain Call began the year with a surplus budget of €647,500 and ended with a deficit of €673,500. Directors’ fees for the year were €12,000 and €818,431 was paid for what’s denoted as “other services.” Perhaps the most costly expense was the €1.2 million in taxes that hit the company for the year.

The Sunday Independent is quick to point out that despite the harsh year, The Cranberries still have plenty to fall back on; the band is estimated to be worth around €50 million.

In usual tabloid style, both papers quote anonymous sources with dubious credibility. A “music insider” for the Sunday Independent said, “The year 2002 was a hard one for the Cranberries. They were still getting back on their feet after the album Wake Up and Smell the Coffee, which was slated by the critics and did not do well sales-wise.” The Mirror quotes a source “close to the band” as saying, “The tax was on their profits of the year 2002 in which they performed around the world and released new material. It’s a big bill but they can afford it because they made so much money in the early 90s.”

This news compares with an article published last year by The Sunday Tribune which shows hefty touring costs cutting into the band’s profit in 2000 and 2001.

The Sunday Independent tried to call the Curtain Call offices for comment on the 2002 loss but received no response.

Sources: The Mirror, Sunday Independent