Pre-tax profits at the builder of the Central Bank HQ and the 3Arena in Dublin last year almost doubled to €18.67m.
New accounts filed by Walls Construction Holdings Ltd show that the business enjoyed the sharp rise in profits as revenues increased by 55% from €303.8m to €472.39m.
The directors state that in 2022, the business commenced major projects that involve significant multi-year turnover "and as a consequence, we have a strong pipeline for 2023 and 2024 with both existing and new clients".
The firm paid out a dividend of €11.75m last year and this followed a dividend payout of €4.5m in 2021.
The directors state that Government Covid-19 restrictions shut down all non-essential construction in 2021 for 15 weeks which resulted in a significant reduction in revenues for that year.
However, the directors state that the investment that the group made during and after this shutdown period "allowed us to accelerate our growth for the latter part of 2021 and this continued into 2022, resulting in a turnover of €472m".
The directors say that at year end the group had cash funds of €75.3m and no external debt funding with the directors stating that the group has a strong balance sheet with all activities funded from existing reserves.
The directors say that they are confident that the group will continue its growth and build on its financial trading position.
The directors state that in order to control the increased turnover, the group has strengthened its management team across all levels, including in its main board, over the past 18 months.
They also say that they are satisfied that any risks around price inflation, particularly with regard to energy costs are being actively managed and provided for at the tender stage of any new potential work and through negotiation with existing clients on current projects.
The group recorded post tax profits of €16.25m after paying out €2.4m in corporation tax.
Some of the company's other projects include LinkedIn's Dublin HQ, Google Bolands Mill and the Kerry Group’s Global Technology and Innovation Centre at Naas, Co Kildare.
Numbers employed by the group last year increased from 345 to 381 with staff costs rising by €5.97m from €28.36m to €34.34m.
Directors’ pay decreased from €1.54m to €2m.
Shareholder funds at the end of last year totalled €29.53 million that included accumulated profits of €26.54m.
The group’s cash funds increased from €41.95m to €75.26m during the year.
- reporting by Gordon Deegan
