One of the the biggest advertising firms in the State, Brindley Advertising, has reported an 18 per cent fall in turnover, with pre-tax profits down by almost a third for 2002.

The firm, established almost 50 years ago, is the second biggest buyer of advertising space in the national press.

Last year it spent €13.3 million in the national newspapers. This was only exceeded by the large agency AIM/Carat.

The company, which is controlled by the Brindley family, has traditionally won a lot of Government and public sector business. However, along with other advertising firms its profitability and turnover was dented in 2002 in a difficult year for the whole media sector.

The accounts for 2002, recently lodged with the Companies Office, show turnover dropping from €21.1 million in 2001 to €17.3 million last year.

The company's pre-tax profit dropped from €4.6 million to €3.2 million.

The after-tax profit was down to €2.6 million, from €3.6 million the year before.

Despite the pressure on profits, the company managed to pay out a larger dividend in 2002, up to €392,000 from €200,000 the year before.

While pressure came on profits in 2002, the company managed to limit this by keeping a tight reign on costs, with operating expenses falling in 2002 from €1.4 million to €1.2 million. The cost of sales figure was also down from €15.3 million to €13 million as major advertising clients reduced their budgets.

While 2002 was a tough year for the firm, the company remains in robust financial health according to the accounts with retained profits of over €10 million.

The company has six directors: Mr Basil Brindley; Mr Donald Brindley; Ms Eileen Byrne; Mr Michael McCabe; Ms Berenice Brindley and Ms Sarah Alken.

The remuneration for these directors dropped in 2002 to €393,494 from in excess of €500,000 the year before.

The company's ultimate parent undertaking is Brindley Media Group which owns 100 per cent of the shares in Brindley Advertising Limited.

In April the extent of the company's success in getting Government business was disclosed in a Freedom of Information reply.

As well as holding the Government contract for the advertising of statutory and official notifications in the print media, the company won several other key contracts.

Brindley received more than €2.47 million from Government departments, according to figures. However, some Government departments did not include payments under the Central Government contract, so the figure could be much higher.

The firm won five contracts from the Department of Justice, worth nearly €600,000, although some of these also involved other firms.