Unidare starts paying dividends to shareholders again after group pre-tax profits double to €9m

UNIDARE restarted dividend payments to shareholders yesterday, after the distribution and manufacturing group doubled its pre-tax profits to €9 million for the 12 months to September.

The results were boosted by a wide-ranging cost-cutting programme that went to war on head office-related expenses and the non-recurrence of a once-off €0.75 million write-off in the previous year. Sales edged up €4 million to €208 million, but adverse currency movements, primarily the collapse in the dollar, sliced €19 million off topline sales.

America accounted for almost three-quarters of group sales, where its ORS Nasco subsidiary acts as a wholsesaler to the industrial, welding and oilfield supplies sector. Sales in America were ahead 10% when measured in dollars, but when converted to euro terms, revenues fell slightly.