Coillte, the state-owned forestry company, has said its annual profits slumped to €4.2m last year, from €9.2m in 2008 as the construction sectors in Ireland, the UK and the rest of Europe stagnated.
Turnover for the year fell to €206.9m from €249m as operating costs were reduced by €24m through a combination of cost control measures including 95 voluntary redundancies and short-time working.
The company, which employs 1,100 people in Ireland, the UK and Holland, said that reducing costs further will remain a focus this year.
During the year, Coillte said it restructured its panels business to take advantage of synergies in its two operating plants. It said that despite the difficult trading environment, record sales volumes were seen in its biggest market - the UK - through a combination of increasing market share and plywood substitution.
It said its property sales and development saw a major reduction in the number of deals and prices achieved compared to previous years. However, it completed the sale of its Knockacummer wind farm site in Co Cork and also made good progress on its first joint venture wind farm project with Hibernian Wind Power at Garvagh Glebe in Co Leitrim. The company owns 7% of the land in this country.
Coillte also grew its telecommunications mast business in 2009 in partnership with telecoms group 3 on the rollout of the national broadband scheme. It is investing €4m in building 100 mast sites as part of this project.
