Building firm Walls says order book strong in Ireland

Walls Construction, the company which built the Central Bank's headquarters in Dublin's docklands, has said it has a strong order book for this year and good visibility into 2020.

Newly-filed accounts for the company, one of the largest construction firms in the country, show a marginal dip in pre-tax profits for last year to €4.1m, but a 17% surge in revenue to €190.3m.

The flat profits last year came after cost of sales increased by 17% to €178.14m while administrative expenses went up by 28% to €8.13m.

Along with the Central Bank building, other stand-out projects for the company include the 3Arena, LinkedIn’s European headquarters, Ballymore’s Dublin Landings project, the Kerry Food Global Technology and Innovation Centre in Co Kildare and the Morrison Hotel in Dublin.

Numbers employed by the business last year increased from 169 to 206 as staff costs increased by 26% to €17.9m.

The accounts show the company recorded post-tax profits of €3.82m, last year, after paying corporation tax of €273,655.

In 2015 Walls was acquired by a new holding company controlled by existing management and private investors.

As of the end of last year, the company's accumulated profits totalled €6.1m.