Costa Coffee operator sustains €48m revenue hit due to Covid-19

Accounts filed by Tuli show that the business’s pretax profits reduced by 56%

Revenues at the group behind Costa Coffee and a string of KFC franchises here slumped by €48 million last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accounts filed by Tuli (Holdings) Ireland Ltd show that the business’s pretax profits reduced by 56 per cent to €4.81 million in the 12 months to the end of January 31st this year.

This followed revenues declining by 45 per cent from €106.2 million to €58 million.

The business also operates Pizza Hut here and the figures show that "other operating income" of €10.5 million compared to €860,332 under that heading in 2019 prevented the business from recording losses in 2020.

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The “other operating income” was made up of €9.03 million, royalties receivable of €1.36 million and net rents receivable of €105,710.

In a note with the accounts, the directors said they had carried out a detailed review of the business and “are confident that they have plans in place to continue to increase revenues and profits going forward”.

The note said that the directors are satisfied with the results for the year and are in line with expectations due to the pandemic.

On the Covid-19 impact on the business since the end of last January, the note said that due to measures taken the related impact of Covid-19 on the business was manageable.

The directors “are confident that the company’s results will return to pre-pandemic levels”.

Staff costs

The Tuli (Holdings) Ireland Ltd accounts are consolidated and figures released by the Revenue Commissioners shows that Tuli (Holdings) Ireland Ltd subsidiary, MBCC Foods (Ireland) Ltd received payments under the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme (TWSS) and the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) last year.

The pretax profits last year also take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €7.36 million.

Numbers employed at the business last year declined by 425 from 2,084 to 1,659 and staff costs reduced by €9.54 million from €30.53 million to €20.99 million.

Directors’ pay last year reduced by 62 per cent from €787,751 to €299,779, made up of emoluments of €260,586 and pension payments of €39,193.

Tuli Holdings is owned by brothers Sundeep and Raju Tuli who are based in Scotland.

The directors said that during the year the company paid interim dividends of €448,141 and declared dividends post year end of €547,452.

Shareholder funds at the end of last January totalled €55.17 million while the group’s cash funds more than doubled from €4.28 million to €9.5 million.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times