Recently filed accounts for Arvum Group, a holding company owned by the Power family, show that pre-tax profits in the business fell by 17% to €635,676 for the 2017 financial year ending June 2017. Turnover for the year declined 8% to €24.6m, with 90% of sales generated in Ireland. Just over €2.4m comes from sales generated in Europe.

Operating profits fell by 21% during the year to €655,358 as profit margins declined from just over 3% in 2016 to 2.7% last year. The company has net assets of €8.4m at year end.

The Waterford-based company increased its investment in R&D during the financial year close to €118,000, which equates to 0.5% of turnover.

Arvum employs 42 people across its subsidiary companies, which include Seed Technology (SeedTech), Advanced Fertiliser, ProNutri and Specialist Nutrition. SeedTech operates a joint venture with DLF Trifolium, the Danish grass and clover seed producer. It has a research site in Waterford with more than 3,000 grass plots where 1,500 varieties are tested.