THE Northern Ireland arm of the global domestic appliance group Glen Dimplex has posted a £36 million loss in its first financial reporting since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Dublin head-quartered outfit, which was set up in Newry by Martin Naughton in 1973, took an 11 per cent hit to its turnover, with six months of lockdown eating into its revenues by £82m, reducing it to just over £659m in the year ending September 30 2020.
Glen Dimplex is the world's largest electric heating maker. But its vast appliance business ranges from Morphy Richards and radio maker Roberts to Walker televisions and Belling cookers.
Most of the group’s sales, just over half-a-billion pounds in the last reporting period, were derived from within the EU.
The latest grouped accounts for its Newry domiciled business Glen Electric Ltd, states that the impact of Covid-19 can be seen across all entities within its group.
A number of its sites had to close for a period due to government restrictions, with the group revealing it had received £4.8m in Covid-19 wage support in the six months of the pandemic period included in the accounts.
Nevertheless, cost cutting measures saw the group’s workforce cut by almost 300 to 3,799.
Glen Electric said revenue and profitability had recovered “markedly” in the 202/21 financial year with demand for its products strengthening.
Most of the losses stated in the report relate to the cost of restructuring and re-investment in the business as part of what the directors described as the group’s transformation to focus on smart technologies and sustainably driven energy solutions.
The group spent £17.2m into restructuring, most of it in Germany, and pumped £21.1m into R&D. Another £2.3m went to The Naughton Foundation, an educational charity named for the company’s founder.
Summarising the performance during the reporting period, the directors said: “The £40.6m investment occurred at a time when Covid-19 impacts were at their peak resulting in a total loss for the year before taxation of £36.3, up from £14.6m in the prior year.
“The loss reflects the impact of continued investment in the group’s future as well as its ability to absorb such costs in the short term to achieve its long-term growth objectives.”
Glen Electric’s directors also revealed that they increased investment in stock over the year to avoid the risk of potential procurement delays due to Brexit and to ensure enough stock is on hand to meet customer demand.
