Losses narrow at airport food firm

Pre-tax losses narrowed sharply to €301,250 at the operator of food and beverage services at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports last year.

Accounts, recently filed with the Companies’ Office, by the Cork-based HMS Host Ireland Ltd, show that the company narrowed its losses by 88% from €2.46m to €301,250 in the 12 months to the end of December last.

This followed revenues at the firm decreasing by 5% from €18.4m to €17.4m. The filings confirm the company exited from its Dublin terminal 1 units in 2012 with the exception of one unit.

Numbers employed by the firm decreased from 262 to 227 last year.

According to the directors’ report they “are focused on improving the performance of the company and as such expect an improvement in profitability in the near future”.

Accumulated losses at the Irish subsidiary of HMS Host last year totalled €13.41m.

However, the company has shareholder funds of €186,072 after a called-up share capital of €13.6m. Cost of sales decreased by 14% from €10.3m to €8.9m.Operating losses decreased by 90% from €2.4m to €231,528.

The loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.3m. The cost of the firm’s operating leases last year reduced from €4.1m to €3.5m. Payroll costs decreased by 18% from €5.8m to €4.79m.

The directors state: “The risks and uncertainties faced by the business are those typical of the retail food and beverage sector, but there are mitigated by the longstanding reputation and tradition of the company’s parent within the sector.

They add: “The potential risk of passenger decline in Ireland and changing spending habits of passengers can pose economic risks to the company.

In a note attached to the accounts under “going concern”, the directors state that “the parent company has confirmed that it is in a position to financially support the company if required for the foreseeable future”.

The company’s parent company is based in Italy. Globally, HMSHost operates in more than 100 airports around the world.

The company has annual sales in excess of $2.7 billion and employs more than 34,000 worldwide.