Revenues at the operator of the likes of Camile Thai, Burger King, the Lansdowne Bar and other concessions at Dublin Airport last year surged by 51 per cent to €78.3 million on the back of soaring passenger numbers.
New accounts filed by Select Service Partner Ireland Ltd (SSPI) show that despite the €27.55 million increase in revenues, the company recorded a pre-tax loss of €2.37 million for the 12 months to the end of September 27th last.
The pre-tax loss followed a pre-tax profit of €2.18 million in the prior year when profits were boosted by Covid-19 Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme payments of €2.19 million.
The directors blame higher costs for the 2023 loss.
As part of a long term contract won in 2020, SSPI operates a network of food and beverage outlets at Dublin airport and works with Irish brands such as Bretzel Bakery, Camile Thai, Cloud Picker Coffee, Handsome Burger, Offbeat Donuts and 3fe coffee.
In their report, the directors state that “the sales were driven predominantly from continued passenger growth and opening of new stores as part of our contract requirements”.
They state that along with the continued passenger growth, during this time SSPI opened further stores to meet air passenger demand, with 27 stores open by the end of September 2023.
The directors state that "the current year saw further growth in our capital investment, increasing our operating costs as we started to operate new concepts and brands that require time to embed in the business”.
They state "this, together with the full year impact of higher operating costs on new units that opened in the prior year, adversely impacted our operating margin”.
They state that the business also undertook an impairment exercise resulting in a €700,000 non-cash charge.
The directors state that the company invested €9.4 million in fitting out new and rebrand units in Dublin Airport, completing Phase 2 of the transformation of the dining offer that it won under a 12-year agreement.
They state that in the period, openings included an innovative customer proposition through a new street food concept called The Mezz, featuring four different offerings including Handsome Burger and Camile Thai.
The directors further add in T1 Landside, new store openings included Burger King, AMT and The Lansdowne bar.
They state that in the US pre-Clearance area, ‘Dubh’, a new grab & go concept was opened while during the year the company acquired a number of coffee units operating in Ireland under the AMT brand.
The firm is owned by SSP Group plc which operates a range of catering and retail concession businesses in the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North and South America.
Staff costs at the Irish unit last year increased by 40 per cent from €13.33 million to €18.68 million.
Shareholder funds last year totalled €4.2 million while cash funds declined from €2.69 million to €737,177.
