Tyrone kitchen and bedroom manufacturer BA Kitchen Components has reported another increase in sales, its latest accounts show.
But the company, set up in Cookstown in 1990 by twin brothers Brian and Kieran McCracken with collateral of less than £5,000, revealed that trading has been hampered as the result of conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and other geopolitical tensions.
“This situation is presenting challenges to the business, particularly in its supply chain in the form of raw material costs, finance costs due to high interest rates, energy costs and labour availability,” the directors say.
BA, which has evolved into a major manufacturer of kitchen and bedroom doors and accessories in the UK and Irish furniture components industry, had revenues just shy of £42 million in the year to March 2023, which was up on the previous year’s figure of £37.3m.
But gross profit fell back below the £10.5m of the previous year, and operating profit came in at £3.1m against £4.8m a year earlier.
The company’s staff numbers also fell back from 329 to 305, though its wages bill remains largely as in the previous year at £10.1m.
BA is currently controlled by Cooperatief H2 equity partners in the Netherlands, by virtue of its majority shareholding in its ultimate UK parent company H2 Portes Topco.
The accounts show that the company had a non-trading inter-company loan impairment of £3.5m across five trading years which it wrote off and which reduced its net assets.
