McMullans get €1.2m Maxol payout

THE McMullan brothers, owners of the Maxol oil company, were paid €1.2 million in dividends last year, according to its latest set of accounts.

Noel, Malcolm and Max McMullan and their extended family own the entire company. The payment was the same as the brothers received in 2002.

Accounts for McMullan Bros show pre-tax profits fell from €10.1 million to €9.44 million. The reduction was largely due to a one-off item in the 2002 accounts when it netted €1.2 million from the sale of part if its stake in a subsidiary company.

Revenues for the year ended December 31 2003 increased from €479 million to €581 million.

High oil prices and the first full year of inclusion of sales from its Estuary Oil business were responsible for the rise.

Maxol acquired Estuary in September 2002, adding another 40 service stations to its existing network.

Although the price was not disclosed at the time, the accounts state that it paid €9.2m for Buselle Limited, the holding company for the Estuary business.

Administration costs increased by nearly €3 million, offsetting the gains made in reducing the cost of distributing fuels and oil.

At operating profit level the company earned €9.3 million, up 20% year-on-year.

After tax and dividend payments, the company had retained profits of €47 million at the end of last tear. Maxol also had €6m in cash and €56m in shareholders’ funds.

Excluding the independent service stations, Maxol employed 285 people, an increase of 28 on the previous year, adding €1.1 million to the wages bill.

The three directors were paid €958,313 in salaries, up 6%, and pension contributions of €282,354.

Maxol has been on the acquisition trail in recent years following its purchase of Connors Fuels, the leading home heating firm in Northern Ireland, in late 2000.

In 1996, it acquired 80 Statoil and Jet filling stations and bought Ola Teoranta at an earlier stage.

The accounts also show that aside from its core service stations and fuel distribution business it has a 45% in house builder Castletown Homes.

Maxol said it has a 14% share of the retail market for petrol in Ireland and a 10% share of the home heating oil market.

The company should benefit from an increase in the price of oil, but forecourt competition in Ireland is intense with the entry of Tesco into the market.

Even the major oil companies are facing pressure. Last week Norwegian firm Statoil said it was looking for a number of voluntary redundancies.