Irish arm of Servisair trebles profits

THE IRISH arm of aviation services company Servisair continued to benefit last year from the boom in air travel, more than trebling its pre-tax profits to €4.45 million.

According to accounts recently filed with the Companies Office, turnover at Servisair Ireland Ltd was virtually static at €42 million.

However, the accounts show the company reduced its cost base by €2.4 million, or 7 per cent, to €38.3 million from €41.2 million in 2006. This resulted in the company more than trebling its pre-tax profits from €1.14 million in 2006 to €4.45 million last year.

The firm – which operates at Ireland’s three major airports – has benefited from the rise in the numbers using Dublin, Shannon and Cork in recent years. Between 2003 and 2007, the numbers using them rose by 47 per cent from 20.4 million to 30 million.

The accounts show that the company – which provides ground handling and cargo services, along with refuelling – managed to cut down on its staff costs by just under €500,000 to €27.76 million. Servisair last year employed 820 – down 37 on 2006. All the job losses occurred in “aircraft handling and supervision”.

The directors state in their report: “Performance in the aviation industry is affected by general economic conditions and specific sectoral factors such as demographic trends. The emergence of the low-cost carrier model as one of the dominant forces in the aviation industry has increased competitiveness.

“The company’s active review of market prices provides both protection and maximises opportunities from anticipated price rises.”

The French-owned company paid no dividend last year or in 2006. The accounts also show that last year the company’s directors received emoluments totalling €431,000.