Revenues at the owner of the Avoca brand rebounded last year by €67.4m to €266.24m as Aramark continued its business recovery from Covid-19.
New consolidated accounts filed by Aramark Ireland Holdings and subsidiaries show that the 34% revenue increase coincided with pre-tax losses halving from €21.62m to €11.25m in the 12 months to the end of September 2022.
The increase in business at the Irish arm of the global integrated services group coincided with numbers employed increasing by more than 1,000 rising by 1,037 from 3,288 to 4,325.
The accounts show that the group's food service division was the best performing with revenues increasing by 68% from €76.52m to €128.4m.
The directors state that "high food and energy inflation experienced across the economy presented a significant challenge to our business and we worked hard with customers to mitigate the impacts of these headwinds".
They add that "the revenue performance and indeed the reduction in the reported loss reflect both the organisation's strategy to drive profitable growth in new business but also the continued recovery from the Covid19 pandemic which significantly impacted operations during the previous two years".
The directors state that they "are confident about the long-term prospects for the company".
They state that it is their intention "to continue to develop the existing activities of the company and continue to take proactive actions to control the controllable and ensure the business can thrive despite the risks it faces".
Elsewhere in the business, revenues at the group’s facilities management dipped marginally from €59.77m to €58.94m while revenues at the group’s retail division surged by 32% from €51.95m to €68.52m.
The group’s property management revenues decreased marginally to €10.32m.
The group’s revenues includes subsidiary Campbell Catering receiving €7m in 2022 from the State for providing catering services to several direct provision centres.
Covid-19 impacted the business during the early part of the year under review and the business last year received €13.79m in
Government grants that included €13.5m in Covid-19 wage subsidy payments.
This followed the business receiving €27.25m in Government grants in the prior year.
The group's staff costs last year increased by 13% from €123.67m to €139.49m that includes €1.62m in redundancy payments. Directors’ pay last year totalled €1.26m made up of €1.18m in pay and €84,000 in pension contributions.
The directors state that earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and intangible impairment before one-time restructuring and related costs amounted to €10.6m profit in 2022 compared to a loss of €1.9m in 2021.
The group’s non-cash depreciation costs last year increased from €14.9m to €20.42m while non-cash amortisation costs totalled €8.86m and a non-cash impairment of goodwill of €7.29m also impacted profits.
The group recorded €245.76m in revenues in the Republic of Ireland and €20.47m in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
At the end of September last, the group’s shareholder funds stood at €64.25m. The group’s cash funds reduced from €13.3m to €12.05m.
Globally in 2022, the New York Stock Exchange listed Aramark recorded revenues of $16.32bn - an increase of 35% on 2021.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
