Phonebook firm calls up €10m pre-tax loss

AN €8.5 million writedown in Truvo Ireland’s Eircom phonebook business contributed to the company recording a pre-tax loss of €10m last year.

Truvo Ireland produces the Golden Pages and accounts just filed with the Companies Office show revenues at the firm dropped by 34% from €54.8m to €35.7m in the 12 months to the end of December last.

The company’s revenues have more than halved in the space of three years with the company recording revenues of €73.6m in 2008.

The €10m pre-tax loss sustained last year compared to a pre-tax profit of €7.6m in 2009.

In 2006, Truvo paid eircom €15m to produce and distribute the Eircom phone book for seven years to 2013. As part of the deal, Truvo agreed to pay eircom a sum equal to 10% of revenues invoiced and not be less than €700,000 in any year of the deal.

The deal gave Truvo the rights to sell adverts in the eircom phonebook pages.

The figures show that the numbers employed by the company last year dropped from 246 to 214 and the directors state that €2.72m of the overall €11.2m writedown “relates to severance costs associated with certain restructuring initiatives”.

The company’s operating loss last year was €10.1m compared to an operating profit of €7.6m in 2009. The post tax loss was €8.89m after a tax credit of €1.1m.

The US-based Truvo Group emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November of last year with a reorganisation plan in place.

Staff costs last year amounted to €11.9m. The company is made up of 124 in sales and 90 in order processing, marketing and administration.

The figures show that emoluments to directors last year totalled €737,000 — compared to €874,000 in 2009.