Printers Adare profits rise

PRINTING firm and academic book publisher Adare saw profits rise by €4.3 million last year.

According to accounts just filed at the Companies Registration Office (CRO) pre-tax profits for the year ended April 30, 2004 rose to €6.3m from €2m the previous year. At operating level, the company’s profits dropped from €20.8m to €13.5m.

Turnover for the year slipped from €261m to €258m. The company did not say where the fall in sales came from.

Adare, which owns the CJ Fallon publishing house, was helped by a lower interest bill on its debt and the sale of property in Dublin, which netted €4.5m.

However, much of the gains were wiped out from restructuring costs and the exceptional items were the redundancy and associated costs from the closure of one of its business units.

During the year, the company cut its workforce again, with numbers in the printing department falling from 652 to 526. Those employed in the company’s other activities increased from 803 to 873. The wages and salary bill for the year actually increased to €57m.

Directors’ pay for the year rose from €766,000 to €824,000. The highest paid director, believed to be the company’s chief executive Nelson Loane, received €271,000.

Adare did not pay a dividend to its shareholders. Its debt reduced from €154m to €137m.