DeLaval, the Swedish manufacturer of milking machines and dairy farm equipment, saw sales in Ireland rise 20% to €13.5m for its 2015 financial year. DeLaval Ireland recorded operating profits of €4.1m in 2015, compared with an operating loss of €572,000 recorded the previous year. Pre-tax profits in the business stood at €4m giving DeLaval Ireland a profit margin of about 30% in 2015.

However, the 2014 figures are skewed by a once-off cost in relation to settling the group’s defined benefit pension scheme. The benefit pension scheme operated by DeLaval Ireland was closed in 2014 with the business incurring a €3.4m charge as a result. This once-off cost resulted in the operating losses accrued in the business in 2014.

In 2015, the DeLaval group reimbursed its Irish subsidiary with €3m to cover the costs of closing the defined benefit scheme. DeLaval’s Irish operations, which are headquartered in Graiguecullen, Co Carlow, make up less than 2% of the group’s global turnover, which increased to more than €1bn in 2015.

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