Connollys expand their Irish operations

The animal feed company Connollys in Goresbridge, the owners of the Red Mills business, have expanded their Irish operations. They have taken a majority stake in the Rothwell grain and feed business which operates in Tullow and Bunclody.

Rothwells, which is one of three agri-merchants operating in Tullow, was owned by Billy Rothwell, who retains an interest in the company. Prior to this deal he had bought out a number of ther investors.

Connollys are already major players in the Irish animal feed business. The latest accounts for WM Connolly and sons Ltd, of which Red Mills is now a subsidiary, show the company had sales of €51.6 million in the year to the end of May 2002. That's up from €45.6 million for the earlier year. The company generated a healthy operating profit of €1.47 million, up from €0.92 million in 2001. The group's operating performance has been helped by a reduction in its workforce with the average number of people employed down from 123 to 98 for this latest accounting period. Staff costs were down from €4 million to €3.75 million.

At pre-tax level, Connollys made a profit of €0.90 million, up by 6% on the pre-tax profit of €0.85 million generated in 2001. It must also be borne in mind that the 2001 figures were boosted by the sale of fixed assets worth €294,963 which were associated with the fire at the feed mill in 2001.

The group's associated companies and joint venture are in the development stage. The associate companies include a 30% shareholding in two American companies, Celtic Holdings LLC and Eu-Tec Nutrition Inc. Connollys bought into these animal feed and property companies in 2001. The latest accounts in the companies office show a loss from Connolly's associated companies of €119,586.

The joint venture is a pet food company called Rednut Ltd, which was set up in the early nineties. It's a joint venture with the Queally owned Arrow group. In 2002, Connollys' share of this company's turnover was €2.82 million and their share of the loss for the year was €6,403.

The overall balance sheet of WM Connolly and sons Ltd is strong with shareholders funds of €12.1 million up from €11.5 million. The groups's net debt is down from €5.7 million to €4.3 million.

Directors' loans to the company amount to €2.29 million. Interest payments for the group were just under €300,000 with an additional interest payment of €139,000 for the joint venture company.