DHL Ireland profits plunged 200pc in 2006
The Irish wing of distribution giant DHL endured a profit fall of more than 200pc in 2006, despite a marginal increase in turnover to EUR 163m.
Figures just filed with the Companies Office show the earnings plunge was largely linked to exceptional costs, including EUR 1.354m for redundancy and relocation costs.
Those costs were linked to DHL’s 2007 move to a new distribution centre in north Dublin.
One of Ireland’s largest private distributors, DHL employed 795 people at the end of 2006, down from 843 the previous year.
The company achieved sales of EUR 163m for the year, up from 2005’s result of EUR 157m. Operating profit, however, tumbled from EUR 5.417m in 2005 to EUR 2.885m in 2006, on foot of higher costs.
A higher interest and tax bill put further pressure on the company’s bottom line, which ultimately delivered profits of EUR 1.16m for the year, down from EUR 4.468m the previous year.
The company’s directors noted the year’s performance was “in line with expectations and in line with overall performance of the Irish market”.
The accounts also detail a EUR 20.2m loan which was advanced to DHL in 2006 by ultimate parent company Deutsche Post AG, and a EUR 559,000 pension refund which will be treated in the 2007 filings.
During the year, the company’s four directors saw their own remuneration drop by more than 18pc to EUR 346,000, while average staff costs rose by about EUR 1,500 to EUR 47,500.
DHL Ireland closed the year with equity shareholders funds of EUR 12.1m, up from EUR 10.3m in 2005, and retained profits of more than EUR 10m.
