Redundancy costs of €5.8 million at the owner of the Avoca brand last year contributed to Aramark recording pre-tax losses of €6.96 million.
New consolidated accounts filed by Aramark Ireland Holdings and subsidiaries show that the group narrowed its pre-tax losses by 38 per cent from €11.25 million to €6.96 million in the 12 months to the end of September 2023.
The group narrowed its losses as revenues increased by 48 per cent from €266.24 million to €314.06 million.
The accounts show that despite the €5.8 million redundancy pay-out, numbers employed at the Irish arm of the global integrated services group increased by 564 from 4,325 to 4,889.
The accounts show that the group’s food service division was the best performing, with revenues increasing by 48pc from €128.4 million to €163.7 million.
The directors state that “the revenue performance and indeed the reduction in the reported loss reflect both the organisation's strategy to drive growth in profitability and win new business”.
The principal activity of the Group is the provision of integrated services including on-site catering, cleaning, facilities, energy, property management and retail.
The directors point out that earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation (EBITDA) and intangible impairment before one-time restructuring and related costs amounted to a €12.9 million profit in 2023 compared to €10.6m in 2022.
In an upbeat assessment, the directors state they “are confident about the long-term prospects for the company”.
They state that it is their intention to continue “to take proactive actions to ensure the business can thrive despite the risks it faces”.
Elsewhere in the business, revenues at the group’s facilities management increased by nine per cent from €58.94 million to €64 million while revenues at the group’s retail division rose by 8pc from €68.52 million to €74.28 million.
The group’s property management revenues increased marginally to €11.84 million.
The group’s revenues include subsidiary Campbell Catering, which provides catering services for the State to several direct provision centres.
The group recorded other operating income of €10.85 million and that included €10.57 million in unspecified government grants.
This followed the business receiving a combined €40.79m in government grants in the prior two years.
The group’s staff costs last year increased by 13pc or €11.62m from €139.49 million to €151.12 million, which included redundancy payments increasing from €1.62 million to €5.86 million. Directors’ pay last year totalled €1.44m made up of €1.36 million in pay and €81,000 in pension contributions.
The group’s combined non-cash depreciation, amortisation and impairment costs last year declined from €20.42 million to €13.67 million.
The group recorded €291.67m in revenues in the Republic of Ireland and €22.38m in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
At the end of September last, the group’s shareholder funds stood at €56.57m. The group’s cash funds increased from €12.05 million to €16.86 million.
Globally in 2022, the New York Stock Exchange listed Aramark recorded revenues of $18.85 billion - an increase of 25pc on 2022. The group’s pre-tax profits increased by 233 per cent from $255 million to $851 million.
