Dyson sold €45.4 million of its products in Ireland in 2022, according to figures just filed with Companies Office. The increase came as the company agreed a deal to sell its products on eBay’s Irish marketplace, allowing customers in the Republic to buy refurbished and returned Dyson products at reduced prices.
The Irish business of the premium household goods and commercial hand-dryer group covers operations north and south of the Border.
Sales increased by 3 per cent to more than €45.4 million in the year and were up 4 per cent from pre-pandemic 2019.
Dyson Ireland turned a €1.14 million profit before tax in the year, according to accounts filed in Dublin on Friday, up 4.5 per cent from €1.09 million in 2021, as the company’s Irish arm ramped up staffing following a decline in its headcount during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Owned by businessman Sir James Dyson through an entity registered in Singapore, the company, which is based in Leopardstown, Dublin 18, also has a branch in Northern Ireland, according to the filings.
Dyson Ireland employed some 83 people at the outset of the pandemic in 2020, with its headcount falling to 60 in 2021. The latest filings show staff numbers at the vacuum and appliances-maker climbed to 71 per cent in 2022 as it ramped up hiring after the pandemic.
Last month, Dyson announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs in the UK, more than a quarter of its workforce there, as part of a wider move to reduce its 15,000-strong global workforce.
“Dyson operates in increasingly fierce and competitive global markets, in which the pace of innovation and change is only accelerating. We know we always need to be entrepreneurial and agile,” said Hanno Kirner, chief executive of Dyson at the time. “We have grown quickly and, like all companies, we review our global structures from time to time to ensure we are prepared for the future,” he said, saying cutting jobs was “always incredibly painful”.
Wage and salaries costs in the Irish business increased by 4.6 per cent in 2022 to more than €3 million, contributing marginally to an almost 300 per cent increase in administrative costs at the business from nearly €3.3 million in 2021 to €9.5 million in 2022.
It also recorded an adverse movement of close to €700,000 in foreign exchange transactions during the year compared to 2021
In a report attached to the accounts, the directors said they were “satisfied” with the results given the “market conditions” experienced in the year.
Earlier this year, Mr Dyson acquired the historic Ballynatray House on the banks of the Blackwater river on the Cork-Waterford border for more than €30 million. The billionaire, who backed Brexit before the 2016 referendum, subsequently submitted a planning application to carry out works on the protected structure, including a rebuild of its stone chimney and the removal of an external staircase and other renovations of outbuildings set across the 850-acre property.
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