Expansion costs at the Business Post Group contributed to pretax losses increasing by 62 per cent to €1.21 million in 2022.
Newly filed accounts show the increased losses came as revenues surged 64 per cent from €12.36 million to €20.33 million.
The group publishes the Business Post print and digital newspaper and also provides market research and public opinion polling through its Red C and UK based data insights provider, Relish Research.
Revenues increased sharply with the help of the first 12 month revenue benefit of Red C, which it purchased for €7 million in September 2021.
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Since acquiring The Sunday Business Post through his Kilcullen Kapital investment platform in 2018, group chief executive and publisher Enda O’Coineen has overseen the growth of the business. Six other investments and partnerships have since been completed.
In their report, the directors said “the increase in the loss for the year was primarily driven by one-off advisory costs related to acquisitions”.
Revenues increased in 2022 “on the back of organic growth and a full year contribution from Red C”, they noted.
Ebitda (earnings before interest tax depreciation and amortisation) totalled €755,003, a 36 per cent increase on 2021.
The group recorded an operating loss of €267,204 following an operating profit of €38,987 in 2021. The loss was mainly driven by non-cash depreciation and amortisation charges doubling from €516,376 to €1.022 million.
Pretax losses increased after the group’s finance costs increased by 158.5 per cent from €217,210 to €561,941 while the pretax loss also takes into account a non-cash impairment investment cost of €109,438.
It also incurred a €238,022 exceptional cost made up of €78,052 in redundancy and severance payments in relation to editorial restructuring, and €132,164 concerning its Digital Transformation Project which included professional fees and a restructuring of the production team.
The directors state the group strategy is to grow revenues and divest risk by investing in complementary sectors to its news publishing flagship brand, the Business Post.
They state that “through acquisition, organic growth and investment in technology, the group has evolved from being a traditional media company to a data driven insights and services group”.
Numbers employed increased from 186 to 188. Staff costs increased from €6.03 million to €10.41 million.
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