Profits at the Mallon family-owned beef processor, Liffey Meats, almost trebled to €1.4 million last year, the latest figures show.

Liffey Meats is based in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. The company is one of the bigger beef processors in the State, along with Anglo Irish, Dawn Meats, Kepak, Slaney Foods and Exel.

According to accounts for the group's holding company, Touleen Ltd, filed with the Companies' Registration Office (CRO), turnover at the Cavan-based company in the year to the end of June 2004 grew by over 12 per cent to €99.4 million from €78.5 million the previous year.

Cost of sales grew by 26 per cent to €89.1 million from €70.6 million, largely reflecting an increase in beef prices in 2004 over that paid to farmers in 2003. Gross profits grew in line with turnover to €10.2 million.

Operating profits stood at €2.2 million at the end of June 2004, a 70 per cent increase on the €1.3 million recorded the previous year. Pretax profits were €1.44 million, a 190 per cent increase on the €507,000 recorded in 2003.

A €64,000 corporation tax charge left it with a gain for the financial year of €1.376 million. In 2003, the group benefited from a €113,000 tax credit, which resulted from losses in the previous two years. That lifted 2003 profit to €621,000.

In 2004, the group paid its shareholders, Francis and Carol Mallon, dividends totalling €11,659. Mr Mallon, who held 140,933 shares in comparison to Ms Mallon's one share, was the main beneficiary. The group retained €1.365 million profits for the 12-month period.

However, the accounts show that Touleen made a €7.5 million gain by revaluing some of its fixed assets. This brought its total gains for 2004 to €8.9 million.

In turn, the revaluation and profit for the year lifted shareholders' funds by close to 100 per cent to €18.4 million at the end of June 2004 from €9.5 million 12 months earlier.

Touleen's total wage and social welfare bill, including management salaries during the year, was €6.1 million, an increase of over 20 per cent on the €5 million recorded in 2003. The company employed 228 people at the end of the financial year, but it is understood that that has since increased to 250.

Earlier this year, the group struck a €5 million deal to sell fillet beef to the 1,500 outlets of Intermarche, France's fourth biggest supermarket chain.

The Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mary Coughlan, attended the announcement of the deal in France in March. The deal was supported by An Bord Bia, which carried out a €150,000 study that established there was a market in France for Irish beef.

Before the BSE crisis struck in Britain in 1996, French consumers bought 45,000 tonnes of Irish beef a year. That dropped to 13,000 tonnes in 2001, and has since increased to 28,000.

Mr Mallon is planning a €100 million 120-bedroom hotel, 18-hole golf course and conference centre for a 350 site he owns at Balrathbury, close to where he lives in Kells, Co Meath.