Firm connected to Key Capital moves into black with €2.5m profit

A company connected with Irish financial advisory firm Key Capital moved into the black last year with a profit of €2.5 million.

This compared with a loss of €712,664 in the previous year, according to accounts just filed by KCII Ltd.

The company’s turnover rose to €29 million last year from €21.4 million a year earlier.

Its cost of sales increased 76 per cent to €12.7 million, while its administration expenses rose 32 per cent to €10.6 million.

The company paid €181,000 in corporation tax, while no dividend was distributed to shareholders. It closed the year with equity valued at €20.3 million, up from €17.7 million a year earlier.

The directors report states they were “pleased with the performance of the business last year”.

Shareholder loans

The accounts show the company acquired a majority stake last year in Brindisi Ltd, which owns 92 per cent of Post Publications Ltd, the entity that publishes the Sunday Business Post newspaper. The company also granted shareholder loans of just under €1 million to Brindisi.

And it acquired Adenium Ltd, which operates as Webprint and prints newspapers.

In addition, KCII has a shareholding in Tyrone Energy, a biomass business in Northern Ireland.

The accounts show Brindisi made a loss of €8,514 last year, while Post Publications made a profit of €77,115 but had a deficit in its reserves of €733,433.

Post Publications repaid €125,000 of its €250,000 loan from the company during the year.

Tyrone Energy was the biggest profit contributor at €2.6 million, followed by Key Capital Private Ltd at €322,660.

The biggest drag on its financials was Key Capital Investment Management Ltd, which made a loss of €226,560 in 2015.

The average number of staff at the company last year was 135, with its payroll costs amounting to €8.2 million. Directors’ emoluments amounted to €2.1 million.

The company had three executive directors during the year – Conor Killeen, Kyran McStay and Colin Morgan, who joined in April 2015. It also has three non-executive directors, Alex Spain, Paul Carroll and Pierre de Weck, who was appointed in April 2016.