Company behind One4All declares €2.65m dividend as profits jump

The directors of the company behind the popular One4all gift cards and vouchers shared a €2.65 million dividend last year after it reported another rise in turnover and profits.

Accounts filed recently for the Gift Voucher Shop, which is reportedly up for sale, show profits increased to €7 million in 2017, from €5.9 million the previous year, as sales jumped nearly 20 per cent to €16.4 million from €13.8 million.

The Gift Voucher Shop, which opened for business in 2002 through a distribution partnership with An Post, is the company behind the One4all umbrella brand and the One4all gift card, which is a multi-store gift card operating in Ireland, Malta and Britain.

The company’s turnover comes from the commissions it earns from retailers when vouchers and cards are redeemed. It also earns “non-redemption income” from unused amounts on cards.

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The value of unredeemed balances on GVS gift vouchers and cards at the end of 2017 was €155 million, the latest accounts show.

Huge boost

Company revenues are split three ways. Corporate sales account for half of all turnover, with the rest coming through the post office network and from online sales.

The company, which got a huge boost in the 2016 budget when the Government raised the tax-free ceiling on gift vouchers for employees to €500, increased its headcount to 51 employees last year. Staff-related costs rose to €2.26 million from €1.93 million.

Founded by former EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalist Michael Dawson, the company has more than 6,000 corporate clients. It is a subsidiary of An Post after the latter took a majority stake in the group for €9 million back in 2009.

According to media reports, the company appointed Investec earlier this year to conduct a sale of the business, which it is believed could go for more than €60 million.

Mr Dawson told The Irish Times in an interview last year that he was looking to expand the brand into a number of other countries in Europe and in South America.