Tullamore-based ham producer Carroll Cuisine saw its pretax profit fall 43 per cent to about €3.5 million in the year to the end of March 2024, while a dividend of a dividend of €7.7 million was paid to its owners, accounts filed at the Companies Registration Office show.
The producer of cooked meats and convenience foods recorded a pretax profit of €3.48 million in the period, down from €6.1 million in the previous 12 months.
Turnover slipped 2.9 per cent to €74.3 million. This drop combined with a rise in the cost of sales and operating expenses to result in a lower operating profit.
The Co Offaly company’s net profit of €3 million compares to a sum of €5.3 million in the previous 12 months.
Carroll Cuisine, a subsidiary of Canadian multi-protein producer Sofina Foods, declared and paid its shareholder Core Acquisitions a dividend of €7.7 million during the year. This follows a dividend of €5.8 million in the year to the end of March 2023.
Carroll was sold by Carlyle Cardinal Ireland in December 2020 to Eight Fifty Food Group, a UK company controlled by private equity firm CapVest Partners. CapVest then agreed to sell Eight Fifty to Sofina in March 2021.
The ultimate controlling party of the company is Sofina owner, founder and executive chairman Michael Latifi, an Iranian-Canadian billionaire.
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“Despite the downturn in performance, the directors are satisfied with the performance of the company and expect that the company will continue to perform satisfactorily,” the directors said in a note accompanying the accounts.
“The directors foresee this level of activity being maintained or increased for 2025.”
Carroll Cuisine employed an average of 315 people during the period of the accounts, down from 323 in the previous 12 months. Its staff costs amounted to €12.2 million, up from €11.8 million.
The company has total equity of €34.1 million, according to the accounts. This is down from €38.8 million a year earlier as a result of the impact of its net profit of €3 million and the €7.7 million dividend payout.
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