Leading car rental firm revs back with €1.13m profit

One of the country’s largest independent car rental firms, Dan Dooley, last year returned to profit to record a pre-tax surplus of €1.13m.

New accounts filed by Dan Dooley Group Ltd show the firm returned toprofit after revenues rose by 18%, from €19.66m to €23.25m, in the 12 months to the end of November last.

Chairman Dan Dooley said that “the group remains optimistic for the future and will continue with its present growth-led strategy”.

He added: “The growth in the tourism sector is expected to continue through 2015 and beyond and the strong US dollar and sterling are beneficial to the industry.

“Group profitability also improved, year on year, and these levels of profitsare required to invest in and develop the business in the future. The increased turnover was seen across all parts of the business, including carrental, car sales, and after-sales repairs and maintenance.

“The car sales division, in line with the Irish retail market, saw good growth during 2014 and helped increase the group’s turnover.”

The pre-tax profit in 2014 followed the group recording pre-tax losses of €330,122, which arose from an exceptional one-off non-cash cost of €689,701.

At the end of November last, the group’s shareholder funds stood at €12.87m while its cash increased from €2.3m to €2.9m.

The directors’ report states that they are of the opinion “that the company is in a position to further increase turnover in future years without any major increase in costs”.