Expansion costs at the Business Post Group contributed to pre-tax losses increasing by 62 per cent to €1.21 million in 2022.
New accounts filed by Business Post Group Ltd show that the group recorded the increased losses as revenues surged by 64 per cent from €12.36 million to €20.33 million.
The group publishes the Business Post print and digital newspaper and also provides market research and public opinion polling through its Red C and UK based data insights provider, Relish Research.
The group’s revenues increased sharply as the business enjoyed the first 12 month revenue benefit of Red C which was purchased for €7 million on September 10th 2021.
Since acquiring The Sunday Business Post through his Kilcullen Kapital investment platform in 2018, group chief executive and publisher, Enda O’Coineen has overseen the growth of the Business Post business and has since completed six other investments and partnerships.
In their report, the directors that “the increase in the loss for the year was primarily driven by one-off advisory costs related to acquisitions”.
The directors state the revenues increased in 2022 “on the back of organic growth and a full year contribution from Red C”.
The directors state that EBITDA (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation) totalled €755,003 which was a 36 per cent increase on 2021.
The group recorded an operating loss of €267,204 which followed an operating profit of €38,987 in 2021 and the operating loss was mainly driven by non-cash depreciation and amortisation charges doubling from €516,376 to €1.022 million.
The group’s pre-tax losses increased after the group’s finance costs increased by 158.5 per cent from €217,210 to €561,941 while the pre-tax loss also takes into account a non-cash impairment investment cost of €109,438.
The group also incurred a €238,022 exceptional cost which was made up of €78,052 in redundancy and severance payments in relation to editorial restructuring and €132,164 concerning Digital Transformation Project which included professional fees and and restructuring of the production team.
The €238,022 exceptional cost was down sharply on the €595,485 exceptional cost for 2021 which was mainly associated with the Red C acquisition.
The directors state that the group strategy is to grow revenues and divest risk by investing in complementary sectors to its news publishing flagship brand, the Business Post.
They state that “through acquisition, organic growth and investment in technology, the group has evolved from being a traditional media company to a data driven insights and services group”.
The directors state that they are satisfied with the implementation of their long term strategy and believe the business is well positioned to take advantage of demand for data driven digital products and services.
On future developments, the directors state that they expect its subsidiaries to continue to grow.
Numbers employed increased from from 186 to 188 as staff costs made up of 98 in production, 69 in sales and distribution and 21 in management and administration.
Staff costs increased from €6.03m to €10.41m. Directors’ salaries and fees totalled €128,967.
A note attached to the accounts states that the €7 million Red C purchase was made up of €4.55 million in cash with the remaining contingent on Red C achieving certain targets.
The note states that having reviewed the performance of Red C, the directors believe that it is probable that the earn-out targets will be achieved.
They state that “Consequently, the group has recorded the remaining consideration of €2.45m discounted to a present value of €2.3m of which €1.05m has been paid subsequently by the company on November 15th 2022".
The group also purchased Digital DNA for €85,877 in 2021.
In August 2023, the group paid £2.5m for UK based Relish Research and the following month acquired the remaining 50pc of the share capital in Smart Speakers Ireland for €100,000.
In July 2023, the Business Post Group announced a €6m minority investment by Bonnier News of Sweden and the directors state that they are confident that the insights, know-how and success that Bonnier has had in digital transformation in other European markets will have a very positive impact on the Business Post’s digital publishing strategy.
