€2m dividend puts newspaper group in the black
The group publishes the Galway city-based Connacht and City Tribune newspapers along with the Connacht Sentinel and also owns Galway Bay FM.
Accounts just filed with the Companies Office show that the group recorded a post-tax profit of €1.54 million in the year to the end of March last year.
The post-tax profit of €1.5m last year follows The Connacht Tribune Ltd recording a post-tax loss of €2.4m in 2009 that mainly arose from an exceptional cost of €2m concerning the company outsourcing the printing of its titles and cessation of its contracting printing business.
The chief factor behind the company returning to profit last year was a €2.6m dividend received from the subsidiary company, Western Community Broadcasting Services Ltd (WCBSL) that operates Galway Bay FM.
This follows WCBSL providing a €1.2m dividend in 2009 to The Connacht Tribune Ltd.
The Connacht Tribune purchased Galway Bay FM in 2006 and separate accounts for WCBSL show that it recorded a post-tax profit of €635,758 last year and this followed profits of €1.3m in 2009. At the end of March last, WCBSL had accumulated profits of €4m.
The accounts for WCBSL’s parent, The Connacht Tribune Ltd, for the year to end of March 2010 cover much of the period in 2009 when the Connacht Tribune celebrated its centenary after reporting Galway life over the past century.
The Connacht Tribune is one of the few remaining independently owned regional titles operating and the filings show that the company’s operating losses reduced by 24% last year from €1.1m to €859,472.
The filings do not provide the company’s revenues, but its gross profit reduced by 14% from €4m to €3.4m.
The reduction in operating losses was achieved mainly through a 16% reduction in administrative expenses from €4.87m to €4m.
At the end of March last, The Connacht Tribune Ltd had €7.2m in accumulated profits.
The filings show that the company incurred bank loan charges of €204,469 and this followed bank loan charges of €422,177 in 2009.
The company also incurred exceptional costs of €43,363 and these arose “from the continuing savings being sought in the area of payroll costs”.
The accounts show that the directors’ fees remained the same level at €132,000. No figure relating to staff costs is provided.
