NEWRY-based builder’s merchant Murdock saw its turnover jump to £42.8 million last year as the Irish construction sector started building again and home-owners' appetite for DIY seemingly grew.
The company, which now has 10 outlets and employs 250 people, also posted an operating profit of just over £1m in the year to last December, according to figures filed at Companies House.
But the Murdock bottom line was impacted when the company wrote off £6.9m as an extraordinary item for what is described as "inter-group debt forgiveness".
The turnover of the core merchanting division increased by 15 per cent, Murdock said, as operating profit rose by 28 per cent.
"We see these results as satisfactory given the improvement in the economy during 2014, and we are happy that the group continues to outperform the sector," the directors said.
They also pledged to increasing the company's market share through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions, as well as new branch openings.
Murdock Builders’ Merchants has 10 branches in Ireland in Banbridge, Balbriggan, Belfast (Duncrue, Kennedy Way and Castlereagh Road), Derry, Dungannon, Lisburn, Newry and Newtownards.
Its most recent opening at Castlereagh Road, on a site previously occupied by Rugby Engineering Ltd, represented an investment of £500,000.
At the time its chief executive Ann Morgan said: “While our business is about ‘bricks and mortar’, we have remained consistent in our customer focused approach.
"We are responding to the changes impacting on the construction sector over the last five years, and appeal to the surge in interest in DIY as more people invest in the upgrade of their properties, rather than move.”
The company's ultimate parent is Murdock Group Holdings, whose principal shareholders are Gerard and Elish Murdock.
