Quinn firm lost €4m in first six weeks

Quinn Industrial Holdings, the group that took over certain manufacturing operations formerly part of the Quinn Group, lost €4 million in its first six weeks of operation, according to accounts released yesterday.

The accounts show the businesses has a turnover of €9.1 million in the period from November 20th, 2014, to the end of that year.

On November 20th, 2014, the company took over activities of the former Quinn Group relating to cement, concrete, quarrying and insulation products, as well as its packaging division.

The price paid was €98.2 million, according to the accounts.

The businesses were formerly part of the Quinn Group, which was seized in 2011 by the former Anglo Irish Bank.

The accounts, for the six weeks to the end of 2014, were released to the media yesterday, along with a short statement from the group.

They have not yet been filed at the Companies Registration Office in Dublin.

The group has already delivered “significant growth since acquisition, with more expected”, chief financial officer Dara O’Reilly said in a statement.

Performed strongly

“Since we acquired the business it has performed strongly, exceeding both last year and [our] budget. Based on this performance and our comfortable debt maturities, which stretch from 2019-2024, QIHL [Quinn Industries Holdings Limited] is well placed to further invest in our infrastructure and asset base in the periods ahead.”

The accounts show an operating loss of €3.66 million and shareholders’ funds at year’s end of €4.6 million. Exceptional expenses of €2.4 million were offset by a one-off gain of €1.6 million arising from the transfer of pension obligations.

British market

The accounts said the cement division is operating in a sector with overcapacity and weak domestic demand, and for this reason is seeking to grow sales in the British market.

The packaging division has struggled to achieve sustained profitability and the focus is to be on the food-tray business, with an exiting from the strapping business, the accounts say.

The exceptional items included costs with a quarry, €66,000 on a severance package, and a €147,000 settlement cost in an agreement with a third-party land-owner regarding the extraction of raw materials by Quinn Concrete.

The group employed an average of 656 people during the period, at a cost of €2.49 million.

It is owned by Quinn Industries Holdings Luxembourg Sarl, which includes a number of former Quinn bondholders who backed the acquisition of the manufacturing businesses.

The Luxembourg company provided debt financing of €103.5 million to the group, on which €344,000 in interest accrued by the end of 2014.

The glass business, which like the other divisions is located on the Cavan-Fermanagh border, is not part of Quinn Industrial Holdings.