The holding company in the group behind the Business Post newspaper and conference and events business iQuest recorded pretax losses of nearly €336,000 in 2020, down slightly from €347,000 in 2019 despite the impact of the pandemic.
Business Post Group – of which Business Post publisher Post Publications and iQuest are wholly-owned subsidiaries – is controlled by businessman Enda O’Coineen’s Dun Aengus Invest vehicle, which owned almost 90 per cent of the shares at the end of 2020, according to its most recent annual return. US-based investor Liam Lynch’s Irish Studio Media Publishing also a holds an 11 per cent stake in Business Post Group.
Incorporated in 2018 when Mr O’Coineen bought the Business Post, the investment holding company’s accounts, filed this week, show that its costs narrowed from €379,000 in 2019 to almost €240,000 in 2020. Accumulated losses of almost €758,000 had built up at Business Post Group by the end of year in which the pandemic first struck.
Business Post Group owed close €780,000 to creditors at the end of 2020, up from €410,000 the previous year after its external borrowings increased by €245,000. The company was owed over €1.5 million by other businesses in the group in 2020, down from €2.2 million in 2019. It also incurred impairment costs of close to €146,000 on certain investments and “intercompany balances” following a review.
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Business Post Group increased its issued share capital by €199,999 in the year. The accounts also note that in 2021, it converted a €2.3 million loan from Mr O’Coineen’s Dun Aengus vehicle into 1.5 million new ordinary A shares and 18.5 million ordinary B shares in the entity. A conversion loss of €75,315 was recognised in the accounts.
Overall, the directors noted that the pandemic “had not had a material adverse” impact on its ability to continue as a going concern.
The accounts note that, subsequent to the 2020 financial year, Business Post Group announced the acquisition of market research company Red C. “This acquisition was funded from an existing shareholders and from a new debt facility from the group’s existing lender Beachpoint Capital Partners,” the company said.
“The Business Post has been investing in complementary business to create a modern, data driven and fully integrated media platform, built around the Business Post Brand, which will significantly enhance the value of its subsidiaries’ customer offerings,” the directors noted in the accounts.
“The company and its subsidiaries are expected to be profitable and cash generative in 2022.”
Accounts filed earlier this year showed that Post Publications Limited incurred a pretax loss of €215,420 in 2020, compared to a loss of €526,507 in 2019, when it had higher exceptional costs.
The company said the trading environment for most of the year was “very challenging”, but that a strong performance in the fourth quarter had helped it secure annual revenue of just over €7 million.
