NCT testing firm posted profit of €6m in year before Covid   

Revenues from NCT testing accounted for €74.25m in 2019 and €4.5m from VRT import inspections and €1.6m from other  revenue. File picture

The business that operates the National Car Test (NCT) posted a profit of almost €6m in the year before the onset of the Covid pandemic.  

New accounts show that Applus Car Testing Service Ltd’s revenues increased slightly to €80.8m and pre-tax profits jumped 19% to €5.9m. 

Spain's Applus secured a new 10-year contract to run the car testing centres in the Republic last year. The firm has paid a total of €35.5m in dividends to its parent since 2013, and paid out €4.2m in 2019.

It carried out 1.39m full tests on vehicles in 2019, up from 1.27m it carried out in 2018. However, last year the fallout of Covid-19 meant the number of full tests fell sharply, to a million.

The directors said in the accounts that Covid-19 and the failure of lift faults last year will hit hard on expectations. 

Test centres shut in late March last year and reopened in early June. It temporarily laid off most of its staff. The costs of fixing the faulty lifts at the test centres in early 2020 were expected to lead to increased costs. 

Revenues from NCT testing accounted for €74.25m in 2019 and €4.5m from VRT import inspections and €1.6m from other revenue.

The national car test was introduced in 2000 following an EU directive.