Land Rover distributor’s pretax profits soar 90% to €4.2m

Pretax profits at the OHM Group, which distributes Jaguar and Land Rover brands here, rose by 90 per cent to €4.23 million last year.

Accounts filed by parent company Armalou Holdings Ltd show that profits increased sharply at the group after revenues surged by €55 million, or 29.4 per cent, from €187.4 million to €242.53 million.

OHM also operates the Spirit Motor Group and sells other brands such as Ford, Volvo, Skoda, Cupra, and Seat.

The accounts disclose that two of the group’s subsidiaries received €732,382 in Covid-19 wage subsidy payments during the year but subsequently the group voluntarily repaid the entire subsidy received after “trading was resilient”.

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The directors explained that “in 2021, given the uncertainty of the impact of Covid-19 restrictions imposed on the group’s operations, two group companies satisfied the criteria to obtain Government grants, which were available to companies to safeguard employment during the Covid-19 pandemic”.

In a post-balance sheet event, the directors said that “as the group’s trading was resilient over the remainder of the year, the group voluntarily repaid all grants received”.

On the overall performance of the business, the board said that “despite the unprecedented challenges and uncertainties associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and the global shortages in raw material for new vehicles, demand for new and used vehicles was strong throughout 2021 and the market demand remains buoyant”.

The board said that “transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is now well under way, as sales of battery EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs continue to increase year on year both for the group and nationally”.

The group recorded operating profits of €4.98 million and interest payments of €757,000 reduced profits to a pretax profit of €4.23 million.

The company recorded post-tax profits of €3.64 million after paying corporation tax of €587,000.

Numbers employed by the group last year increased to 251, made up of 154 in sales and support and 97 in service, as staff costs last year totalled €15.92 million.

Directors’ pay decreased by 34 per cent from €1.5 million to €988,000.

The pay to the group’s key management personnel, made up of directors and executives, last year decreased from €3.76 million to €3.33 million.

The group paid out a dividend of €348,000 last year.

At the end of December last the group had shareholder funds of €32.42 million that included accumulated profits of €28.6 million. Its cash funds increased from €10.3 million to €13.9 million.