Soaring costs decimate Web Summit profits

Soaring costs at the company behind Paddy Cosgrave’s Web Summit business sent pre-tax profits plummeting to €125,823 last year, from €3.8m in 2017.

However, new accounts show revenues at Manders Terrace continued to rise last year, up 21% to a record €35m.

The company’s cost of sales increased from €12.9m to €17.4m while its administrative expenses increased from €12.14m to €17.5m.

The scaling up of the business last year resulted in the company increasing its workforce from 167 to 213.

The company continues to expand and recently confirmed job openings to help the group organise its Rise event in Hong Kong, Collision in Toronto, along with its flagship Web Summit event in Lisbon.

The company recorded a post-tax prof it of €18,501 after paying tax of €107,322.

Accumulated profits at the end of last year totalled €6.8m and the company’s cash decreased from €5.8m to €4.9m.

The Web Summit recently agreed a deal to remain in Lisbon until at least 2028 under a €110m deal.

The latest accounts show that one of the founding directors of the business, Daire Hickey, resigned as a director of Manders Terrace in August.

The Web Summit has grown exponentially since it was first staged in 2010 and last month 70,469 attended the event in Lisbon.

The profits last year take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.1m.