Redundancy deal puts TNT logistics firm into the red

The Irish arm of logistics company, TNT Express slumped into the red, last year, arising from the cost of a redundancy programme at the business.

Newly filed accounts for TNT Express (Ireland) show the firm recorded a pre-tax loss of €266,775 in 2015, down from a profit of €2.1m in the previous year.

The Irish division went into the red despite increasing revenues by nearly 3% to €40.1m on the back of new business wins.

During the year, the firm cut jobs in its back office function resulting in it paying out €1.83m in termination benefits. The company employed 188 people at the end of last year.

Combined salary payments declined marginally from €7.03m to €6.93m. The company’s cash during the year increased from €134,860 to €163,566.

The Irish arm’s loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €414,036. The firm’s two directors are listed as Ronald Judge and Brian Gallagher and their combined pay decreased from €528,863 to €476,944.

Last year, FedEx announced that it was going to purchase TNT Express’s business in a near €4.4bn deal and earlier this year, EU regulators approved the deal.

The deal came two years after United Parcel Service (UPS) pulled out of a €5.2bn bid for the Dutch firm.

UPS withdrew following opposition from EU competition authorities, saying it saw “no realistic prospect” of approval for its bid from the European Commission.