Vikings: Valhalla production firm receives €34m in film tax credits

A movie production group behind global hit shows Vikings and Vikings: Valhalla last year received €34 million in film corporation tax credits from Revenue.

New accounts for Metropolitan Films International Ltd show that revenues at the business increased almost six-fold or 480 per cent from €12.38 million to €71.9 million in the 12 months to the end of April 2021.

The main activity of the group is producing films and TV series here, primarily by way of co-production of incoming European and international studio projects.

The €34 million film credit for the company last year compared to zero under that heading in the prior year.

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Over the preceding three years, Metropolitan Films International Ltd received movie tax credits totalling €85 million comprising €22 million in 2019, €25.47 million in 2018 and €37.48 million in 2017.

Figures released by Revenue earlier this year show that the amount of tax relief under section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act granted to Metropolitan Films International Ltd for the critically acclaimed The Last Duel, starring Matt Damon, was between €10 million and €30 million in 2021.

Metropolitan Films International Ltd also received tax relief last year of between €10 million and €30 million in tax relief for Disney's Disenchanted, starring Amy Adams and Patrick Dempsey.

As Metropolitan Films International Ltd last year ramped up its activities, numbers employed at the company increased from 66 to 424 as staff costs rose from €2.6 million to €24.2 million.

A note attached to the accounts states that the majority of workers employed are contract workers.

Netflix

The first series of Vikings: Valhalla became available on Netflix in February and the filming here of the second series concluded late last year.

Underlining the increased production at Metropolitan Films last year, the firm’s production expenses last year increased from €8.7 million to €104.79 million.

The firm recorded a pretax loss of €34.05 million and the corporation tax credit of €34.01 million resulted in a modest €38,420 post-tax loss.

The business is led by James Flynn and film industry veteran Morgan O'Sullivan. Ronan Flynn resigned from the board in April 2021.

The company’s cash funds last year increased from €4.6 million to €12.85 million.

The Revenue Commissioners confirmed that the value of payments to qualifying firms under the film corporation tax credit in 2021 was €137.1 million. This followed the value of payments totalling €138.7 million in 2020.