The DID Electrical chain of electrical stores built up by the Houlihan family recorded pre-tax losses of €557,430 last year ahead of its recently announced sale to the Select Technology Group.
New accounts show that Home Appliances UC recorded the losses in the 12 months to the end of March 2022 arising from the group making "significant investment" in the business transformation of the group that sets it up for "future growth".
The pre-tax loss of €557,430 in the 12 months to the end of March 2022 followed a pre-tax profit of €5.27m for the prior year.
The loss last year also coincided with revenues at the business decreasing by 9% from €109.37m to €99.16m.
DID Electrical has 23 outlets around the country and last week Irish owned Apple Premium reseller, Select, previously known as Compu b announced the purchase of DID Electrical for an undisclosed sum.
The period under review from April 1st 2021 to March 31st 2022 in the new DID Electrical accounts was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and the directors state that "given the challenges over the financial year, the directors are satisfied with the results of the company and that the significant investment made will benefit the company and works towards ensuring the medium and long term growth of the company".
The directors state that the company completed a business transformation project "to enhance the long term viability of the company".
They state that "whilst this investment caused some operational challenges during its deployment, the project was essential for the long-term viability of the company and has set up the company for future growth".
The directors say that the investment included a spend on expansion on product range "relevant to the modern consumer".
The retailer also incurred investment costs in the distribution of products to customers.
Underlining the spend on the transformation programme, the accounts show that in spite of revenues declining the company's outlay on administrative expenses increased from €19.47m to €21.52m.
The loss for last year takes account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €1m and the €209,313 loss on the disposal of tangible assets.
Also, in 2021, the firm benefited from other operating income of €830,234 that did not re-occur last year.
The 33 increase in numbers employed to 344 contributed to staff costs rising from €11.65m to €13.37m.
A breakdown of numbers employed show 241 in sales, 51 in administration and 52 in warehouse/deliveries.
Pay to directors last year dipped from €656,296 to €587,718. Seven directors served during the year, Carmel Houlihan, Gerry Houlihan, John Houlihan, David Houlihan, Amanda Houlihan, Ken Fox and Rob Collison.
At the end of March 2022, the firm had shareholder funds of €14.9m while cash funds halved from €14.19m to €7.09m. The company’s fixed assets had a value of €11.36m.
Commenting on the DID Electrical purchase last week, MD of Select, Ciaran McCormack said: "This is a transformational deal for Select in Ireland." Mr McCormack described DID Electrical as "a household name" here.
The DID Electrical stores are to remain under the DID Electrical band with Select Product’s offering being integrated into DID Electrical stores.
- reporting Gordon Deegan
