Grassland Agro, the Irish fertiliser company, saw its profits more than halve last year after what it described as intense competition in the Irish fertiliser sector. Accounts filed with the companies office show Grassland Agro made operating profits of €3m in 2019, which was down 52% on the previous year.

Operating profit margins in the business narrowed from 5.4% in 2018 to 2.8% last year. The accounts show Grassland’s pre-tax profits fell by 57% last year to €2.5m, while sales were down 8% in the year to just over €106.4m.

Last year, French agribusiness Groupe Roullier/Timac took majority control of Grassland Agro after it increased its ownership stake to 80% of the business. The remaining 20% stake in Grassland Agro is owned by Liam Woulfe, who serves as managing director of the company.

The accounts for Grassland Agro show dividends of more than €5m were paid to shareholders last year. Grassland Agro imports and distributes circa 350,000t of fertiliser every year, giving the company a 25% share of the 1.3m tonne fertiliser market in Ireland.