Profits at Lifestyle Sports firm drop 14%
Profits at retailer Lifestyle Sports and a management shipping services unit, both owned by the Stafford Group, dropped 14% to €3.82m last year.
Revenues at the Lifestyle Sports and management services units had, however, risen 4.5% to €115m in the 12 months to the end of September from a year earlier.
Currently, Lifestyle Sports has 54 outlets and faces competition from Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct, which also owns the Heatons fashion chain in the Republic and the North.
During the year, the Co Wicklow-based Stafford Group spun out its Campus oil and Stafford fuel units from the rest of business.
In the non-cash transaction, the Stafford Group put a value of €35m on its oil and fuel companies, and the hived off businesses are still owned by the Stafford family.
Total pre-tax profits at the Stafford Group fell 23% to €6.38m in the year. The new accounts filed by Stafford Holdings Ltd and subsidiaries show the group posted revenues of €276m, down 12% in the year.
Separate accounts for Stafford Fuels Holdings Ltd show that it recorded revenues of €14.98m last year and employed 28 people.
The directors in the accounts said they were now satisfied that the group has a proper structure. After the internal demerger, staff numbers at the group fell from 587 to 487, and staff costs decreased from almost €20.9m to just over €18.6m. Accumulated profits at the group totalled €13.97m, while its cash pile fell from €17.5m to €4.32m.
The accounts show that in September 2017, the company issued loans totalling €1.68m to directors and these were repaid subsequently in full.
Eight directors last year served on the board including chief executive Mark Stafford and non-executive chairman Victor Stafford. Pay to directors was over €1.03m, including €54,000 in pension contributions.
