From Midleton to Tokyo: Selling Irish whiskey to the Japanese
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Irish Examiner
29 minutes ago
- Irish Examiner
Penneys revenues dip as poor weather left trading 'flat' in 2024
The firm which operates retailer Penneys recorded daily average pre-tax profits of more than €2m last year despite "flat" Irish revenues. New accounts lodged by Primark Ltd show that the company's pre-tax profits more than doubled from from €416.63m to €881.5m in the 12 months to the end of September 14th last. However, the impact of poor weather conditions during Summer 2024 contributed to revenues from Penney's Irish store network dipping marginally from €744.5m to €741.7m. The €741.7m in revenues for the 52 weeks work out at the average weekly revenues of €14.26m for the 38-unit Irish strong network of Penneys stores. The directors state that 'Irish store trading performance was flat in the current year with trade stronger in the first half of the year'. They state that 'trade in the second half of the year was impacted by adverse weather conditions. The opening of the Bray store in summer 2024 negated this somewhat," they said. A spokesman for Primark said on Friday: 'In Ireland, we're continuing our multi-year €250m investment programme, including recent refurbishments of Penneys O'Connell Street in Dublin and Limerick city, with further store redevelopments planned in the coming months for stores in Portlaoise, Limerick, and Ennis.' The refurbished Penney's on Limerick's O'Connell Street was opened last week after an investment of €5m. The accounts start that the €250m investment programme over the coming years will create an additional 1,000 jobs and increase selling space in Ireland by an estimated 20%. The directors state that a new state-of-the-art distribution facility for Newbridge, Co Kildare represents an investment of €75m 'which is due within the next year'. The directors state that the overall Irish investment 'reinforces the company's long term commitment to cities, towns and local communities across the country". Overall, revenues at Primark last year increased by 5% from €3.91bn to €4.1bn and revenues were made up of €2.1bn of revenues from intercompany supplies of inventory; Primark Way franchise income of €1.25bn, and the remaining €741.7m from Irish retail revenues. The Primark Way franchise is a business format which is developed and run from Ireland and provides Primark intellectual property, know-how, and services to Primark businesses overseas. The Primark spokesman said: 'We had a positive year in 2023-2024 with increased turnover and profit due to strong trading across our key growth markets in Europe and the US as well as steady performance from our Irish stores and the addition of a new store in Bray. 'We continued to benefit from the relevance of our great-value clothing and the expansion of our product and category offering. It also reflects the success of our store rollout programme internationally with highlights including entering our 17th market of Hungary and opening our 450th store in Orlando, Florida." The accounts disclose that the company paid out dividends of €809m. The company recorded a post tax profit of €771m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €109.9m. Primark opened its first store in Dublin in 1969 under the name Penneys with the firm aiming to have 530 stores open globally by the end of 2026. The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €86.53m and non-cash amortisation costs of €45.35m. Numbers employed by the firm last year decreased slightly from 7,064 to 7,054 made up of 5,033 retail assistants, 595 retail managers and 1,426 'central'. Staff costs increased from €300.19m to €319.03m. Directors last year received variable payroll amounts of €5.12m, €4.2m under long term incentive plans while €950,000 was also paid out for compensation for loss of office. At the end of September 14th last, Primark Ltd's accumulated profits stood at €1.6bn.
Irish Daily Mirror
29 minutes ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Taoiseach says Ireland will not be punished by US over Occupied Territories Bill
Taoiseach Michéal Martin has rejected claims that Ireland will be punished by the US over the Occupied Territories bill and said the country will not 'suffer unduly'. After US President Donald Trump threatened 30% tariffs on imports from the EU earlier this week, US politicians have suggested that the bill will not bode well for Ireland. US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said the bill - which will prohibit trade between the State and Israel's illegal settlements- would not be received well in the US and it 'would not go unnoticed'. Speaking in Cork on Friday, the Taoiseach refuted claims that the bill will harm Ireland economically. He said: 'There are efforts abroad to undermine the integrity of Ireland's position, to misrepresent Ireland's position. We are conscious of that. We will always work to protect our economic interests and the national interest 'We don't want in any way to undermine Ireland. The purpose of the exercise is not that Ireland would suffer unduly in respect of this.' The Taoiseach added that the bill 'has not been mooted' and there is a broader negotiation ongoing between the EU and US on tariffs. He added: "Those negotiations are tough and as you know we have until August 1 to resolve it. That is the context on which tariffs will be discussed and now an individual member state basis." This comes as former minister for justice Alan Shatter heavily criticised the bill as it was given consideration at the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs on Tuesday. As a member of the Ireland Israel Alliance, the former Fine Gael TD repeatedly referred to the bill as a 'Father Ted' measure. He also compared it to how the Jews were targeted during the Second World War. Responding to this, the Taoiseach said: 'What I would reject very strongly is any suggestion that there is any hint of antisemitism in terms of the Irish position. I think that was wrongly presented by former Minister (Alan) Shatter in his presentation to the Oireachtas committee. "I was dismayed at the language he used. It was false language and it was a very false presentation.' The Taoiseach said the focus needs to be on the thousands of people who have died in Gaza and the ongoing loss. He continued: 'The Irish people are appalled by what is happening in Gaza and indeed across the West Bank. People I meet cannot understand the continued slaughter of children. "Only in the last 48 hours a church was attacked, a Catholic Church was attacked and innocent people were killed. The war needs to stop. Hostages need to be released and the political process and a massive surge in humanitarian aid needs to be facilitated.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Paula Hynes: Do you have a beef with the cost of living?
The cost of living, along with food inflation, is making the headlines — one politician even said 'a litre of milk is now more expensive than a litre of petrol'. There is some bit of truth in that statement, but in reality it is a headline grabber — if the same politician shopped own brand in a supermarket, they would get their litre of milk cheaper than petrol, and if the cost of diesel came down, the price of food may do the same, as there is a lot of transport involved in collecting milk from farms, delivering food to distribution centres and then onwards to supermarkets. And let's not forget contractor charges, which have risen dramatically due to the cost of diesel. I might remind the same politician that while petrol may be cheaper than milk, oil companies make far greater profits than dairy farms. In fact, thank God the price of milk is high. Irish dairy farmers spent most of 2023 and 2024 operating at break-even as the price of milk was so low. The price of food will need to remain high in Ireland — there are further taxes being placed on fertiliser next year, there is also a proposed tax of €80 on a tractor tyre, energy prices are far too high in this country, and diesel the same, meaning the cost of producing milk is high and will only go higher going forward. Ask yourself this: why do politicians start to spout dramatic headlines when the voter and consumer have their backs against the wall? Politicians need to get in touch with reality and join the real world fast, because milk was always going to get more expensive — if it didn't, then farmers would simply go out of business. Politicians are still wrangling over regulations which may further impact the price, will the derogation be renewed, and now the mighty EU wants to play with the CAP budget, well if they reduce it, the consumer will pay the price. There are talks the budget will be reduced by 22% between 2028 and 2034. Remember, the CAP was originally set up to keep the cost of food low, and the EU has already been reducing those payments to farmers for years. Milk isn't the only food that has risen in cost, the cost of beef for the consumer has risen 22% year-on-year. It seems high, but the price of cattle has risen 48%, according to CSO figures. Beef kill at factories is reducing week on week, with prices climbing, which will further increase the price for consumers. The writing was on the wall for high beef prices for some time, and yet politicians continued to walk around in La La Land, oblivious to a looming beef shortage. When Pete was in the US in 2023, Angus calves from dairy herds, which were still being fed milk, were costing $450 each. The same calf here was costing between €50 and 100. Why the price difference? There was a massive shortage of beef cattle in the US. Ground beef has risen by 50% in price over the last five years in the US, beef production is forecast to drop by a further 2.1% this year, which equates to 600,000t, and the US beef herd has fallen to its lowest in 70 years — an 800-pound steer in the US cost about $1,500 in 2024 and now costs $2,400, prices which are forecast to continually rise through 2025. It is not just a US issue — in Ireland, changes to derogation rules by the EU meant Irish farmers had to reduce dairy cow numbers to the tune of nearly 200,000 cows. If we assume a 10% non-pregnant rate, then that is 20,000 fewer cows going for slaughter a year, and 180,000 fewer calves born, so the beef kill in Ireland was forecast to drop, and it has. In fact, the beef kill in Ireland is in free fall at the moment, and not only will have an impact on beef prices in the supermarket, it also has a serious economic impact on our economy, and may potentially lead to job losses. On an EU level, beef cow numbers are at their lowest since 1961. EU politicians have simply regulated farmers out of business — those farmers who continued have been crippled by the rising cost of farm inputs, and while many farmers continue, climate change is now driving them out of business. Farmers in Mediterranean countries have now ceased trying to rear young calves due to the challenges of extremely high summer temperatures, and have now switched to sourcing older weanling cattle from Northern Europe, including Ireland, as these older cattle can adapt to high temperatures with fewer health issues. Export demand for cattle to other EU countries from Ireland has never been higher, and looks to increase. The EU political solution, to simply sign the Mercosur deal, and ensure you will all be eating South American beef, which in turn will further push EU farmers out of business. In the end, we will be simply paying a high prices to Brazil for beef because other countries across the world will also be looking to source the same beef due to a global beef shortage, which is forecast to increase as global demand continues to soar over the next decade. The great Texas ranchers would most likely say to politicians, y'all made a mess of it, and they would be right on the money with that statement. The next time you, the consumer, hears a politician or an MEP saying they have got your back, and they are going to raise the cost-of-living issue, ask them what their stance on EU food security is, and whether they are going to fight to ensure the EU's number one priority is food security? The same politician who feels a litre of milk is higher than a litre of petrol might also remind her political party MEPs to actually turn up and vote when it comes to EU agricultural parliament voting, because their record of voting is pretty dismal and bordering on non-existent up until now. They simply didn't seem to care about EU agriculture or food production until it became a huge issue for consumers. On a cheerier note, with no shows since the Great Yorkshire due to a few hospital appointments, we are all set for YMA National Finals in Kilkenny, and with seven heifers travelling, we have two top-class days of showing ahead, so hopefully we might have a little luck. Read More Is it the thin end of the wedge for flat rate Vat compensation scheme?
