Profits surge at McDonald’s Irish business

Operating profits at the Irish arm of fast food giant McDonald’s increased more than three-fold to €19.63 million in 2021.

New accounts show that McDonald’s Restaurants of Ireland Ltd benefited from the easing of Covid-19 restrictions in 2021 as revenues surged 39 per cent to €67.13 million.

The firm’s revenues for 2021 recovered to such an extent that they were almost on a par with pre-Covid revenues of €69 million in 2019.

The operating profit equates to an average weekly operating profit of €377,519 and the bumper 2021 performance has allowed the company to pay out combined dividends of €45 million across 2022 and 2021.

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The firm paid out a dividend of €25 million on November 30th last year, following a dividend payout of €20 million in 2021.

The business is planning to build on those gains, with the directors stating that “the company anticipates further expansion of its operations in the Republic of Ireland”.

The McDonald’s business here is now entirely based on franchised restaurants.

The last owner-operated McDonald’s closed permanently at Dublin Airport on February 28th, 2022.

The number of franchised restaurants at the end of December 2021 was 94.

The directors state that revenues increased by 39 per cent and operating profits increased “due to the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic”.

They state that the large increase in gross margin and operating profit “is reflective of costs not increasing to the same degree as turnover”.

The directors state that throughout the second and third Covid-19 lockdowns in November 2020 and January 2021 “we were able to continue sales through our delivery, drive-through and take away channels”.

“Indoor dining reopened in July 2021,” they add. “These operational changes allowed us to continue operating these channels under all but the most severe lockdown situations and with the success of the vaccine roll-out across the UK and Ireland, we do not expect further closures of any sales channels.”

The company’s pretax profits increased by 180 per cent from €6 million in 2020 to €16.78 million in 2021

The company’s pretax profits were lower than operating profits of €19.63 million due mainly to a non-cash impairment on tangible assets of €2.85 million.

The firm recorded a post-tax profit of €15.12 million after paying corporation tax of €1.65 million.

Numbers of staff employed increased from 147 to 163 as staff costs rose from €3.52 million to €3.93 million.

The operating profit takes account of combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of €3.6 million.

At the end of December 2021, the firm had shareholder funds of €98.57 million that included accumulated profits of €18.89 million.

The company’s cash funds increased sharply from €13.3 million to €35.2 million.