Post tax profits at the multi-awarding winning production company behind the screen adaptations of Sally Rooney's Normal People and Conversations with Friends last year decreased by 49% to €2.32 million.
The €2.32 million profit for the Dublin headquartered Element Pictures Ltd last year resulted in accumulated profits rising from €7.99 million to €10.32 million.
The post tax profits of €2.32 million for 2023 follow post tax profits of €4.54 million for 2022.
The company’s cash funds last year increased more than three fold from €857,129 to €3.3 million.
Last year, the conveyor belt of quality drama from Element Pictures continued with the release of Poor Things, starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo.
The movie achieved a worldwide box-office of $117.6 million while Emma Stone won Best Actress at the Oscars in March where the film was nominated for 11 Oscars including Best Picture.
In 2022, the firm co-founded by Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe, confirmed that it sold a majority stake to global production and distribution giant, Freemantle that will enable "to expand their capacity and continue producing television and film for international audiences".
A note attached to the new accounts states that the directors "are pleased to report a trading profit for the year and are confident of consolidating that position in the coming year".
The company achieved the 2023 profits after taking account of non-cash depreciation costs of €176,361 and a loss on foreign currencies of €191,532.
The accounts state that in the prior year, the company forgave connected company loans of €2.46 million as the directors believe that "there was no chance of recoverability on these loans".
The loans written off were €2.26 million due from Picture Palace Cinema Ltd and €196,352 due from Light House Cinema Ltd. Picture Palace Cinema operates the art-house cinema, Pálás in Galway city.
The most recent accounts for Picture Palace Cinema Ltd show it recorded a loss of €618,717 in 2023.
Recent film releases by Element Pictures include Yorgos Lanthimos’ Kinds of Kindness with Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe.
Lanthimos’ next collaboration with Element Pictures is Bugonia starring Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons and is due to be released in November 2025.
Numbers employed by the business last year increased from 33 to 37. Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney sit on the board with Andrea Scrosati, Christian James Vesper and Stuart Jackson and pay to directors last year totalled €503,000.
The company last year recorded pre-tax profits of €2.64m and generated post tax profits of €2.3 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €311,045.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
