Grantly Developments (Parkhead), the company accused of "holding Glasgow to ransom" over its refusal to sell land vital for the 2014 Commonwealth Games village, could have got "considerably more" than £5.5m for the site if it had "played its cards right".

The Glasgow-based property firm, which had wanted almost £8m for the 2.5-acre derelict tract of land in Dalmarnock, yesterday also unveiled a retained loss of £112,291 in its latest set of accounts, which were obtained by The Herald from Companies House.

Grantly filed the accounts under special Companies Act provisions, which allow small companies to produce abbreviated financial statements, and no pre-tax profit or turnover figure was available.

When the company's headquarters at West Regent Street in Glasgow were contacted and asked for comment, The Herald was advised to call director Gavin Logan in Belfast. However, a spokeswoman for Logan said she had "spoken to him and he doesn't want to comment".

Meanwhile, a senior source at Glasgow City Council yesterday told The Herald: "This company seriously overplayed its hand. The site had a value and Grantly tried to get more than it was worth, but in the end we ring-fenced the deal and the company got less than it was worth."

Asked how much less, the source added: "I wouldn't like to be specific about the details here, but I'd say it was probably a seven-figure sum.

"From our point of view, it's fantastic news for the taxpayers. They got value for money."

Graham Duffy, who heads Grantly and is now understood to be based in Florida, had originally planned to build Scotland's tallest skyscraper on the site, and previously claimed that planning permission for a 55-storey tower was in the pipeline.

Grantly Developments (Parkhead) had controlled the land in Dalmarnock on behalf of a consortium.

Among those with a stake in the consortium is Northern Ireland and Sheffield United footballer Keith Gillespie, 32, whose holding is understood to be 12%. Others with a stake in the deal are Duffy's relatives, John and Susan Duffy from Bishopbriggs.

The company had claimed the land on Millerfield Road was worth between £6.2m and £7.8m.

Glasgow City Council had initially offered £2m, following an evaluation by council-commissioned private valuers.

In the end, the parties settled on £5.5m.

The developer, who has also claimed he was treated like a "second-class citizen" by the council, has refused to divulge how much Grantly paid for the site in 2005 or how much profit it has made, but conservative estimates put it at £1m, with another source claiming the plot could have been acquired for as little as £1.5m.

The deal, which was struck at the end of last month, came just weeks after the council threatened compulsory purchase, a route made possible by the incoming Commonwealth Games Bill which gives the authority powers to forcibly buy land "required for Games purposes".

The athletes' village will be twice the size of the 2006 Melbourne Games village, catering for up to 8000 people.

After the Games, it will be made available for sale or socially-rented housing.