Construction firm on course to make profit
Director Alan McCarthy, of Brian McCarthy Contractors, was commenting yesterday on returns for 2009 which show the company’s pre-tax profits dropped by 87% from €1.1m to €145,886.
The fall in profits occurred after revenues at the Ennis-based firm decreased by 35% from €62.4m to €40m to the end of December last.
One of the projects that the company completed last year was the €2.3m home for Prof Don Barry.
The contract to build Prof Barry’s home — which was financed by UL from private funding — is one of a number of public contracts in the education sector the company has won in the past number of years.
It was also the main contractor for the 17-storey Clarion Hotel in Limerick, while it has also built a range of projects in the health, commercial, retail and industrial sectors.
Mr McCarthy said: “We would say that the profits made last year are very positive and they show that we are weathering the storm a lot better than other construction firms.”
Mr McCarthy said that while 2010 “has been a difficult year and we are leaner now”, the company is on course to make a profit this year.
He said: “There are not too many construction firms that would have made a profit last year.”
Mr McCarthy said that the company “has a very strong balance sheet” and the figures show that the company had accumulated profits of €11.6m with cash of €4.7m.
The company is better insulated from the collapse in the property sector as Mr McCarthy said that house-building accounted for only 10% of the company’s work.
Mr McCarthy said that the company recently opened new offices in London and Krakow in Poland “because we will not get involved in the below-cost tendering for projects that is going on in Ireland”.
Mr McCarthy said that the below-cost tendering might be securing projects at a good price for Government, but the Government is left with the social consequences of projects not being finished and sub-contractors not being paid.
