Profits at car hire and garage firm Dan Dooley Group dropped 4% to €1.74m in its last year as an independent company.

The Irish operation of American car rental giant Enterprise has bought Irish-owned Dooley Car Rentals — and has not ruled out further Irish acquisitions in the future.

Pre-tax profits at one of the largest independently-owned car rental firms in the country, the Dan Dooley Motor Group, soared 64% last year to €1.8m.