Lir Chocolates posts profits of €179,000

LIR CHOCOLATES, the manufacturer of luxury Irish truffles co-founded by Senator Mary White, increased its profits 38 per cent to almost €179,000 in the year to the end of April, according to accounts filed at the Companies Office.

Lir Chocolates Ltd returned a pretax profit of €178,836 in the period compared to €129,410 in the previous 12 months and a loss-making year in 2008.

Lir’s gross profit increased from €2.89 million to €3.16 million over the period, while administrative expenses increased from €2.63 million to €3.13 million. Its improved fortunes in the 12 months to the end of April 2010 were also due to lower interest and other charges.

The company’s founders, Senator White and Connie Doody, who set up the company in 1986 in East Wall in Dublin to provide local employment, remain listed as directors of the company.

In 2007, the now Navan-based company was merged with British confectionery company Kinnert- on, a subsidiary of Zetar, a UK publicly quoted food holding group.

The other directors are Stephen Cope, Hugh O’Brien, Ian Blackburn, Clive Beecham and Richard Reilly, who are all listed as holding shares in the parent company, Zetar, as of April 30th, 2010.

The company employed 169 staff in its Meath base up until the end of April 2010, an increase of 10 staff on the previous year.

Staff costs amounted to just under €5 million for the 2010 accounting year, up €1 million on the previous year. The directors were paid €289,900, up from €256,000 the previous year.

The accounts show that the value of shareholders’ funds in Lir stood at almost €4.6 million as of April 2010, compared to just €1.9 million a year earlier.

The company made a foreign exchange gain of almost €212,000 on the capitalisation of inter-company loans during the year.