One off costs of €11.52m at the owner of the Avoca brand contributed to Aramark's pre-tax losses increasing almost three fold to €19.14m in 2024.
New consolidated accounts filed by Aramark Ireland Holdings and subsidiaries show that the group's pre-tax losses surged by 175% from €6.96m to €19.14m as revenues rose by €48.3m or 16% from €311.42m to €359.8m in the 12 months to September 27, 2024.
The €11.52m one-off cost arises from Aramark incurring a €9.9m provision from fulfilling a services contract after management determined that the contract will result in a net loss over its remaining life.
The group also incurred a €1.6m impairment charge on intangible assets associated with the delivery of the contract.
The overall business expanded rapidly in 2024 with "Food Service" its best performing segment where revenues rose by 22.5% from €163.77m to €200.5m.
Numbers employed at the Irish arm of the global integrated services group also rebounded sharply as the group's workforce increased by 873 from 6,317 to 7,190 as staff costs increased from €151.92m to €170.46m.
In their review of the business, the directors state that "the group continues to focus on driving growth and promoting efficiencies across the portfolio".
They state that "a key aspect of this is our ability to develop, build and maintain long-term relationships across our portfolio of clients and customers which led to revenue performance for the year to increase by 16%."
The directors state that the loss for the period excluding one-time items was €9.1m.
They state that "the revenue performance and indeed the reduction in the reported loss excluding one-time items both reflect the organisation's strategy to drive growth in profitability and win new business".
The directors state that earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, amortisation and intangible impairment before one-time expenses of €9.9m amounted to a €7.8m profit in 2024.
On the future developments of the business, the directors state that they are confident about the long-term prospects for the group.
They state that it is the intention of the directors to continue to develop the existing activities of the group and continue to take proactive actions to ensure the business can thrive despite the risks it faces.
The principal activity of the group is the provision of integrated services including on-site catering, cleaning, facilities, energy, property management and retail.
Elsewhere in the business, revenues at the group's facilities management increased by 15% from €61.53m to €70.53m while revenues at its retail division rose marginally from €74.28m to €75.1m.
The group's property management revenues increased by 15% from €11.84m to €13.63m.
Its revenues includes subsidiary Campbell Catering which provides catering services for the State to several direct provision centres.
The group recorded an operating loss of €17.84m and net interest payments of €1.3m increased losses to a pre-tax loss of €19.14m.
The group sustained a post tax loss of €20.02m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €876,000.
Directors' pay reduced by 45% from €1.44m to €788,000 - made up of €734,000 in pay and €54,000 in pension contributions.
The group's combined non-cash depreciation and amortisation totalled €13.15m.
The group recorded €331.9m in revenues in the Republic of Ireland and €27.92m in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
At the end of September 2024, the group's shareholder funds stood at €37.7m. The group's cash funds more than doubled from €16.86m to €36m.
Globally in 2024, the New York Stock Exchange-listed Aramark recorded revenues of $17 billion - an increase of 8% on 2023. The group's pre-tax profits totalled $261.89m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
