Members of the Sisk family shared €51 million in dividends from their Irish-based building business this year and last, new accounts show.
Sicon Ltd, owner of the Irish-headquartered Sisk group of construction companies, earned €58 million profits in 2024, a 62 per cent increase on the previous year.
The company paid a €30 million dividend to its shareholders, John Sisk, Richard Sisk, Owen Sisk and their families, “subsequent” to the end of 2024, according to the directors’ report.
The accounts state that Sicon also paid a €21 million dividend in 2024, bringing total payouts to its owners to €51 million over the two years.
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A spokesman said the business distributes excess capital that it does not need to support growth.
Sisk, one of the State’s biggest construction businesses, has operations here, in the UK and in Europe, building for the technology, pharmaceutical and data centre industries.
In the Republic the group also builds homes and works on State-funded infrastructure projects.
Sicon’s accounts show revenues grew almost 11 per cent last year to €2.75 billion from €2.48 billion in 2023.
Paul Brown, chief executive of John Sisk & Son, the group’s main operating business, said the growth was due to its staff, clients and growth strategy.
“With a robust balance sheet, a healthy pipeline and a strong order book, we are well positioned for 2025 and beyond,” he added.
Directors Gary McGann and Gerard Penny note that the group owed no debt to its banks.
Last year it emerged that Sisk was one of several Irish builders that EU authorities are investigating for possible breaches of competition law in the European data centre construction industry.
Sisk did not comment on the inquiry beyond saying that it would co-operate fully.
Sicon’s group balance sheet shows that net assets had risen to €137.2 million on December 31st from €110.5 million 12 months earlier.
It owed short-term creditors €841 million, of which €537 million was due to trade creditors.
The group’s businesses generated €122 million in cash.
The Irish unit, John Sisk & Son (Holdings) Ltd performed strongly during 2024, Mr McGann and Mr Penny said.
“The business benefited from strong underlying activity in the core sectors of the Irish construction industry in which it operates,” they added.
It enjoyed strong growth in the data, technology, life sciences and manufacturing industries, as well as commercial, retail and civil engineering.
The directors note that it had a strong order book for this year with “a good line of sight into 2026″.
Several large housing and commercial projects boosted its UK operation in 2024, the said. However, outside London, some smaller contracts in the north of England and civil engineering lost money.
Also in the UK, two subsidiaries, JSS Rail and Fuse Rail, which provide specialist services to rail companies in England and Wales, performed strongly.
Its European operation, spread across the Netherlands, Scandinavia, Belgium, Croatia and the Czech Republic, has several large contracts under way, which the group hopes to complete over the next two years.
