The DID Electrical chain of electrical stores, built up by the Houlihan family, recorded pre-tax losses of €719,469 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 2023 as the business made "the appropriate decisions to set the company up for future growth in the years ahead".
The directors state that as part of this ongoing process, the decision was made to invest in DID Electrical's new flagship store in Turner's Cross, Cork in October 2022 "whilst also making the difficult decision to close our Blanchardstown store in September 2022".
The directors' report state that "given the cost and investment of some of the above initiatives over the financial year, the directors are satisfied with the result of the company and that the decisions and investment made will benefit the company and work towards ensuring the medium and long term growth of the company".
The pre-tax loss of €719,469 in the 12 months to the end of March last followed a pre-tax loss of €557,430 for the prior year.
The loss last year also coincided with revenues at the business decreasing by 7% from €99.15m to €92.38m.
DID Electrical has 23 outlets around the country and in December, Irish owned Apple Premium reseller, Select, previously known as Compu b, announced the purchase of DID Electrical for an undisclosed sum.
The firm recorded a post tax loss of €582,027 after recording a corporation tax credit of €137,442.
The accounts were only signed off last Monday, February 26, and a note attached to the accounts refers to the sale of the business to Select Technology Group.
The directors state that they believe "that this decision to merge two trusted Irish brands will invigorate and drive the DID brand forward, benefit our staff and customers and ensure that the company is set up for medium and long term growth".
The accounts show that Carmel Houlihan, Gerry Houlihan, John Houlihan, David Houlihan and Amanda Houlihan all resigned from the board on December 12 last.
As part of the Select purchase, Ciaran McCormack and Alan Victory were appointed to the board on the same day.
The loss for last year takes account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €1.16m.
Numbers employed by the business decreased from 344 to 319 as staff costs reduced from €13.37m to €11.67m.
A breakdown of numbers employed show 218 in sales, 49 in administration and 52 in warehouse/deliveries.
Pay to directors last year dipped from €587,718 to €543,000. 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 2023, the firm had accumulated profits of €14.3m while cash funds increased from €9.8m to €11m. The company’s fixed assets had a book value of €11m.
As part of the Select deal, the DID Electrical stores are to remain under the DID Electrical band with Select Product's offering being integrated into DID Electrical stores.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
