BNM blames wet summer for €23m impairment charge

Bord na Móna lost over €23m because of a "catastrophic" peat harvest last year.

Bord na Móna (BNM) lost over €23m because of a "catastrophic" peat harvest last year.

In annual results for the year ending March 2013 BNM said it made a profit of just over €9m, compared to a loss of €16m in 2012.

Turnover was up 11% to a record level of €426.1m, BNM said, while operating profit was €23.5m compared to an operating loss of €3.7m in the previous year.

However exceptional costs of €23.5m were incurred as a result of the poor harvest in 2012, which at 37% of target, was the lowest in the company’s history

"Bord na Móna faced exceptional operating challenges in the Feedstock business as a result of a 37% milled peat harvest during the 2012 summer, the wettest recorded in the company’s history," BNM said in a statement.

"The management team responded by initiating a number of mitigating measures to ensure a profitable performance for the group. There will, however, be a requirement to rebuild the peat stocks over the next few years to provide adequate stocks to meet sales demand."

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”) remained strong at €61.2m despite the impact of the exceptional items

Chief Executive Gabriel D'Arcy said it would have been a lot worse had staff not played their part.

"I think Bord na Mona proved itself to be a resilient organisation - there was a lot of efforts put in by our employees; everybody in the company contributed," he said.

"All management from top-down took pay cuts, there were lay-offs, there was short-time working to deliver the result.

"We're very happy and very pleased that we're delivering the result for our shareholder," he added.