COOKSTOWN-based coal and utility firm Patmond Energy says its present level of activity will be "sustainable in the foreseeable future" despite it seeing decreased customer demand during the Covid lockdown.
In the year to June, sales at Patmond - which spawned from what was known as Lissan Coal Company (LCC) - fell from £44.4 million to £39.2 million.
Retained profit, however, increased from £1.3m to £1.7 million.
The ultimate controlling partner in Patmond Energy is Denise Taggart (43), by way of her 90 per cent shareholding.
And while there were five directors listed at the time of the filing of the results, just her and Michael Loughran (70) are now active, following the recent termination of three other directorships.
Established in 1996 solely as a coal trader, Patmond now charters and operates both deep sea and coastal vessels, as well as providing consulting and freight forwarding services to and from the UK.
It sources supplies from South Africa, South America, the US and Russia, as well as mainland Europe, where the UK's departure from the EU is likely to have some impact on its business going forward.
Dividends of £250,000 were paid during the year, similar to the previous year, while staff numbers sit at seven people, according to the financial figures, with its wages bill rising from £133,719 to £147,850.
In the strategic report published alongside the accounts, the directors said the performance was "as expected" due to a decline in customer demand during the lockdown caused by the Covid pandemic, though it did benefit from decreased market prices.
In recent times the company has expanded its portfolio and now ships a range of dry bulk chemicals, cement, clinker as well as coal, petcoke and metcoke.
Meanwhile in its most recently-published set of accounts LCC Group Holdings, controlled by the Loughran family, saw a slight decline in turnover to £924m from £942m, though operating profits almost doubled from £18.8m to £33.7m. The group has 318 employees on its books.
