Irish biscuit manufacturer East Coast Bakehouse has filed two years of overdue accounts that show a sharp rise in revenue and combined losses of €7.4 million over the period as it continued to invest heavily in its growth.
The accounts state that the company’s turnover is now at the level “required to trade on a break-even basis during the year ending February 28th, 2026″. And the business recently raised €5 million in additional equity from investors to help fund its growth, particularly in export markets.
The biscuit maker made the headlines recently for failing to file its accounts on time with the Companies Registration Office, as required by company law.
In June co-founder Michael Carey stepped down from his roles as chairman of Enterprise Ireland and the Housing Agency to avoid any embarrassment for the Ministers involved, James Browne in housing and Peter Burke in the Department of Enterprise (whose remit covers the CRO).
RM Block
These accounts have now been filed, following the recent appointment of EY as auditor. The filings cover 12-month periods to the end of February 2023 and February 2024.
The accounts for the year to the end of February 2024 show the revenue rose by 80 per cent to €11.2 million while its losses more than halved to €2.2 million from €5.7 million in the previous 12 months.
The losses were fully funded by shareholders.
Commenting on its late filing, Mr Carey said: “It was my own fault that we didn’t stay on top of the need to get them prepared and completed for the filing deadline. We were focused more on issues of fundraising and not enough time was given to it.
“We had issues with our accounting service provider and we made the decision to appoint EY, with that process taking some time. The resolution to fix this took considerably longer than it should have. We won’t be late in the future. We now have procedures in place that ensure this won’t be repeated. And it is important that companies file on time.”
In terms of trading, he said the strong momentum in revenue over those two years has continued into the current financial period.
With a manufacturing facility in Drogheda employing 100 people, East Coast Bakehouse began trading nine years ago with an eye on exporting the bulk of its product to the UK. Brexit upset that plan, followed by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions and inflation caused by Ukraine war.
“It’s been a rollercoaster ride,” Mr Carey said. “More ups and downs than anybody would want in a business in start-up phase. But the prospects are very strong.
“We have revenue up now beyond the volume necessary to achieve profitability. But it has taken longer and absorbed more funds than we would have intended.
“Our first commercial sale was in June 2016, the same month as the Brexit vote. That uncertainty really derailed us for a couple of years and Covid obviously slowed down progress ... business development ground to a halt. So it has taken considerably longer to get to where we had hoped to be.”
The company produces more than 1 million biscuits each day, with 70 per cent of its output exported, mostly to the UK and Germany.
There are three elements to its business: its own Bakehouse brand, private label products for retailers, and contract manufacturing for other biscuit producers.
Mr Carey said the company recently signed private label deals with British supermarket groups Asda and Morrisons and it has also shipped product to Singapore, Trinidad and Nigeria.
