Mastercard Ireland profits decline after Truata writedown

Profits at Mastercard Ireland slipped by 40 per cent last year as it wrote down the value of Truata, the joint venture it owns with IBM, by close to €10 million.

Pre-tax profits fell from €15.01 million to just under €9 million for the company whose parent is the second largest payments company globally.

The decline came as Mastercard wrote down the value of Truata from €11.3 million to €1.8 million. A further €2.6 million was written down in the value of an associated company, Gils Transportation.

Established in 2018, Truata is a data analytics company which helps businesses comply with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It announced plans to create 75 jobs in Dublin when it was founded.

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In a note with the latest accounts, directors at Mastercard Ireland warn that investments totalling €3.7 million in subsidiary companies could be impaired if business projects are not achieved.

Revenues

Mastercard Ireland again recorded a substantial increase in revenues, with turnover up 60 per cent to €284.7 million in 2020. This follows a 194 per cent jump in 2019 from €60.5 million.

The group announced plans to take on an additional 1,500 people and take additional office space at One and Two South County, a newly built campus site in Leopardstown, south Dublin, near to its current home.

Mastercard has had a base in the Republic since late 2008, following its $100 million (€84.5 million) acquisition of Irish firm Orbiscom. It has significantly grown its Irish business in recent years after deciding to locate much of its research and development work here.

The company showed it had an average of 621 people working for it last year, up from 443 a year earlier. Staff costs rose to €64 million from €44.7 million over the year.

The company said it invested nearly €3.2 million for a 70 per cent stake in a company called Finsec Lab Limited last October. Finsec runs a start-up innovator in Israel.