Musgrave values itself at €311m

THE Musgrave Group, operators of the SuperValu, Centra and Daybreak brands, has valued itself at €311 million.

Annual accounts for 2010, reveal the Musgrave Group redeemed and cancelled two million ordinary shares in November 2010 at a cost of €10.8m.

Following the transaction, Musgrave Group’s annual accounts show that 57.6m shares remain in issue. With the company paying €5.40 per ordinary share to redeem the shares, this places an overall value of €311m on the remaining shares.

A spokesman for the group said yesterday they did not comment on company valuation.

The accounts also reveal that aggregate dividends of 29.5 cent per ordinary share amounting to €17.1m were paid during the year.

Turnover of €4.4 billion was down 3% on 2009, with profit before tax of €72m, an increase of 3%. Musgrave Group also eliminated its start of the year net debt of €59m to close the year with net cash of €21m. The company still has total bank loans and overdrafts of €76m offset by massive cash reserves.

Directors’ pay increased by €1m to €6.9m. The company said the increase in director remuneration was “on the basis of the directors and the group achieving pre-agreed targets which were set prior to the 2010 financial year”.

Restructuring expenses of €16.9m arose from the closure of a depot in Galway and a reorganisation of the group’s food service and cash and carry businesses.

The report says: “During 2010, significant steps were taken to reduce costs. Musgrave Retail Partners Ireland closed its Galway depot and Musgrave Wholesale Partners reorganised its food service business and its cash and carry business. These decisions resulted in 248 redundancies and a €16.9m restructuring charge in 2010.”

Musgrave Group, together with its retail partners, employs approximately 55,000 people. The Musgrave Group directly employs 5,500 staff. The group paid €8.8m in Irish Corporation tax in 2010 down from €12m a year earlier.

Group chief executive officer Chris Martin, when the headline sales and profits figures were released earlier this year, said: “Consumers are now facing into the next phase of the recession with rising fuel prices, higher taxes and uncertain employment prospects.

“We are anticipating that the rest of this year will be tough for the grocery market and the trading environment will remain difficult.”