Yelp’s Irish unit books €2.3m restructuring charge

Losses narrowed at the Irish unit of San Francisco-based online review platform Yelp last year while turnover rose from €32.6 million to €40.1 million.

Yelp Ireland booked restructuring costs totalling €2.3 million last year, including an impairment of fixed assets of €554,320.

Newly filed accounts for Yelp Ireland Ltd show it recorded a €387,428 pretax loss in 2016 versus a hefty €39.5 million deficit a year earlier, which was due to an impairment charge of €34.3 million and a €5.5 million write-off on the company’s investment in Cityvox SAS, a French online review site.

The company's immediate parent Yelp Ireland Holding Ltd incurred a €65.4 million impairment charge two years ago after it decided to wind down its sales and marketing activities outside of North America.

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Yelp came in for severe criticism at the time for the manner in which it announced plans to close the operations, most of which were based in Ireland.

Subsidiaries

In a note attached with the latest accounts, Yelp said it had closed subsidiaries in Japan, France and Singapore in 2016. The company also has local units in Italy, Australia, Germany, Spain, Brazil and Sweden.

A breakdown of turnover for the Irish unit shows €33.6 million in revenue derived from the United States last year with a further €6.4 million coming from Europe.

Yelp Ireland employed 87 people, down from 92 in 2015. Staff costs, including restructuring costs of €1.13 million, totalled €6.5 million versus €5.1 million a year earlier.