Daft.ie owner pays €5.8m dividend after return to profit

Fallon brothers each hold close to a quarter of Distilled SCH

The owners of Daft.ie and DoneDeal, including brothers Eamonn and Brian Fallon, shared a €5.8 million dividend from their online Distilled SCH group of companies last year.

New accounts filed by the Distilled SCH Ltd show the group recorded pretax profits of €1.6 million last year. This came as revenues grew by 10.5 per cent from €23.8 million to €26.35 million.

The revenues include the income generated by property website Daft.ie and online marketplace DoneDeal.

Distilled SCH Ltd was established in 2015 after Daft.ie and Adverts.ie were merged with Schibsted Media’s DoneDeal.

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The accounts show the Fallons, who each hold 23.66 per cent, directly and indirectly control 50 per cent of the voting share capital in the Distilled SCH Ltd along with Paul Kenny.

The company absorbed restructuring costs of €420,911 during the year. Numbers employed increased from 142 to 147, with staff costs increasing to €11.13 million from €10.88 million. Pay to directors – excluding dividends – last year decreased to €602,651 from €728,788.

Shareholder funds at the group last year totalled €106.97 million, while the group’s cash pile rose from €3.7 million to €4 million.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times