Cork-based group motoring again thanks to turnaround in profits
In accounts filed to the Companies Office, the group recorded a pre-tax profit of €2.88m in the 12 months to the end of December last after a pre-tax loss of €884,023 in 2011.
It returned to profit in spite of revenues falling 25%, from €83.7m to €62.3m, as the firm sold its Avis rent-a-car franchise in Mar 2012.
Johnson & Perrott recorded a profit of €750,000 on the sale of the franchise that contributed to the overall profit of the group.
The group’s cash last year increased from €6m to €17.8m with accumulated profits totalling €52.7m.
However, employee numbers last year fell from 231 to 142, with redundancy packages costing €476,944. This payout was offset by a €293,000 pension settlement and curtailment gain.
The accounts disclose that two directors, James Thornton and James Robert Whittaker, resigned from the board last year. Termination payments to directors last year totalled €226,659.
The profit last year takes account of €7.1m in non-cash depreciation costs.
The directors state they “are confident that the long-term growth the group had achieved up until the start of the current economic difficulties will recommence following the restructuring of its activities and the putting in place of a more robust business model”.
Their primary focus for 2013 is to improve the profitability of the dealership business. “While the financial results from continuing operations for 2013 will be lower than in 2012, the directors are confident that the group now has the prospect of long-term sustainable profit and substantial growth prospects across its core business.”
