Goffs sales plunge in 'most challenging' conditions for bloodstock auctioneer in 155 years

Turnover at Goffs from sales at the ring plunged.

Turnover at Goffs from sales at the ring plunged during the “most challenging” conditions faced by the bloodstock auctioneering business in its 155-year history.

Group chief executive Henry Beeby said that, in a normal year, the financial figures “would be bordering on catastrophic”.

However, in new accounts, he said the business had acted quickly to cut costs by €5.3m, which allowed the business to post a profit that had looked “unlikely at the start of the year”.

The accounts filed by Robert J Goff with the Companies Office show that pre-tax profit fell 22% to €1.19m in the 12 months to the end of March, as ring turnover slid to €106m from €175m.

Staff costs fell from around €5.3m to €4.3m as the number of people employed fell to 81. Pay to directors fell from €1.2m to €1m.

Goffs did not pay out a dividend in the financial year, but chairwoman Eimear Mulhern said that the board would be recommending the payment of a dividend at its annual general meeting.

In his statement in the accounts, Mr Beeby said the €5.3m cut from overheads and costs was achieved “by performing a line-by-line review of every area”.

'Nothing was sacrosanct'

“Nothing was sacrosanct and that included significant remuneration reductions for every member of the Goffs payroll, all of which was received without complaint or question,” Mr Beeby said.

The financial outcome “we view with an equal measure of relief and satisfaction”, he said.

Mr Beeby said that one of the biggest disappointments was caused when the Orby and sportsman’s yearling sales were relocated to Doncaster because of travel restrictions to Ireland during the pandemic.

Under normal conditions, Orby is Goffs biggest-earning sale of the year.

“We would be remiss not to acknowledge that many felt we made the wrong call with our choice of venue for the sale, and results would tend to back up that view,” he said.

Mr Beeby said that Goffs experienced “a torrid two days of Orby”, when sales fell by almost €20m.

“There is no disguising the disappointing nature of these results, and we accept that there is a lot of work to do to rebuild the trust and loyalty of many of our vendors as they did not enjoy the level of trade that they expect from the Orby sale,” he said.

Mr Beeby said that the pandemic had accelerated the introduction of the Goffs online sales.

Since July 2020, he said that €10m of horses have been sold from buyers in 22 countries.