The Cork-based sportswear firm that supplies helmets to many of the country’s top hurlers last year recorded profits after tax of €266,112. New accounts filed by Mycro Sportswear Ltd show profits after tax jumped 28 per cent compared to the prior year.
The firm was established in 1986, and is the biggest supplier of hurling helmets in Ireland. Waterford’s Austin Gleeson is one of the game’s top hurlers to wear its helmets, which can cost as much as €95.
The profits for the past two years follow post-tax losses of €104,877 that covered the first number of months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Accumulated profits have now increased to €2.27 million, while the company’s cash funds increased from €582,591 to €719,016. The firm received no government grants last year after receiving €10,916 under that heading in 2021.
The value of the company’s financial assets remained at €1.25 million. The loss last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €7,329. Directors’ pay last year increased marginally from €10,840 to €12,646.
The firm’s helmets are manufactured at Ballincollig in Co Cork using raw materials from local suppliers. It has benefited greatly from the GAA making it mandatory for all hurlers to wear a helmet since 2010 – a study has shown that the proportion of hurling-related head related injuries among A&E-treated players is reduced 10 fold when full head protection is availed of by wearing both a helmet and a face guard.
Along with its business here the company sells its helmets in such as Australia, Japan, the UK, France, Hungary, Luxembourg and the US.
The 100 per cent Irish-owned firm also sells hurlers, sliotars and gloves. The firm’s directors are listed as Patrick Crowley and Denis Cremin.
