Beauparc Utilities sees pretax profits jump 23% to €34m

State’s largest waste company sold in June to Australian group Macquarie in €1bn deal

Pretax profits at Ireland's largest waste operator, Beauparc Utilities, jumped by 23.5 per cent last year to €34.74 million. Beauparc owns the Panda and Greenstar waste firms.

Revenues at the group rose 4 per cent from €508.38 million to €528.6 million. Group operating profit increased by 39 per cent to €49.8 million before finance charges and exceptional items.

In June, businessman Eamon Waters sold the company to Australian financial services giant Macquarie. The value of the deal was not disclosed but it was reported to have been in the region of €1 billion, which would provide a windfall of about €367 million for Mr Waters.

Bins and waste

The group operates out of the Republic, the UK and the Netherlands. with Ireland last year accounting for two-thirds of the business. The next-largest market is the UK, where 31 per cent or €162.98 million of revenues was generated, with the Netherlands accounting for 3 per cent or €17.7 million of revenues.

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Waste management was responsible for €287.58 million in sales – essentially from its bin collection and commercial waste services. The company made €48.39 million from the sale of recyclables and €91.14 million from the sale of electricity or gas, one of its more recent ventures.

Growth at Beauparc continued last year, with staff numbers rising to 2,112 from 2,018. Staff costs were 10 per cent higher at €90.27 million. A sizeable part of the increase was €4.73 million, which was spent on a management incentive plan for key management personnel, including directors, the management team and the company secretary.

That incentive plan saw pay to key management personnel almost double last year to €8.83 million from €4.5 million a year earlier.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times