Mars Ireland profits up 42%

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of food giant, Mars, last year jumped 42% to €7.74m.

New accounts filed by Mars Ireland Ltd show the firm recorded the jump in pre-tax profits in spite of incurring redundancy costs of €3.9m. Revenues remained flat , dipping from €127.76m to €127.32m.

According to the directors’ report, “trading conditions remained challenging in Ireland in 2014 with continued pressure on consumers’ disposable income, impacting sales growth in 2014”.

Mars Ireland paid an interim dividend of €4.1m last year. It followed a dividend pay-out of €2.1m in 2013.

The increased profits arose from the firm reducing its cost of sales from €114.2m to €107.5m. The company recorded after tax profits of €6.74m after corporation tax of €1m is factored in.

The directors state that the firm continues to focus on developing the four categories that it operates in food, chocolate, pitcher, and gum, through collaboration with its trading partners and offering products that engage with consumers in line with our principles.

Staff costs rose from €10m to €11.16m. The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €181,000 and operating lease costs of €807,000.

The firm sustained an actuarial loss of €15.5m last year on its pension schemeand this combined with the dividend payout contributed to a shareholders’ deficit of €115,000 .