COUNTY Derry construction group and horse owner PJ Conway has reported a pre-tax profit of £6.3 million for 2023 after a significant increase in turnover in 2023.
New financial filing published by Companies House show the Magherafelt-based group entered its 50th year of business with a turnover of £29.2m, a 27% increase on its previous year.
The contracting business, which was founded in 1974 by PJ and Tillie Conway, has over the decades grown into major property developer, investor, asset manager, with interests in the healthcare sector.
It now employs in the region of 600 people across its various interests.
The south Derry group, which is still run by the Conway family, also owns breeds horses at the Glenbrook Stud in the county.
According to the Racing Post, their stable yielded just over €212,000 in earnings over the past five seasons under trainer Dermot McLoughlin.
The latest accounts for the Conway Group show it adopted a new the methodology for valuing its horses in the latest year.
The result was the value of its horse stock in more than doubling in 2022 from £509,352 to £1.2m.
“The directors believe this new method more accurately reflects current guidance on valuing hose stock,” states the report.
However the accounts confirm property remains the Magherafelt group’s biggest interest, with its investment property valued at £39.6m in 2023.
Its properties include the Centrepoint building on the corner of Bedford Street and Ormeau Avenue in Belfast.
The directors said the 27% leap in turnover during 2023 was “predominantly due to new contracts, improved trading conditions and an increase in rates charged”.
PJ Conway said turnover was up across its healthcare, construction and property interests in the year ending December 31 2023.
The latest accounts suggest the group’s healthcare business, Brooklands, was the most profitable aspect of the business, generating a profit-before-tax of £5.6m in 2023.
The Conway Group primarily operates care homes under the Brooklands Healthcare banner in Antrim, Magherafelt, Kilkeel, Derry and Dunmurry.
But the group has steadily acquired a number of other residential sites around the north, including Cottage Care Home in Coleraine, Kilwee Care Home in Dunmurry, Aisla Lodge in Bangor and most recently, the Parkdean nursing home in north Belfast, which it acquired last month as part of a £7 million investment.
The group’s healthcare arm also opened Willowbrook Care Centre in south Belfast in March 2024.
Formerly known as Windsor Care Home, the 40-bed property on Osborne Park had been on the market with a £2m asking price.
Other major Conway Group deals subsequent to the reporting period include the Hightown Road project in Glengormley.
Outline planning approval for the £20 million mixed use scheme next to the St Enda’s GAA club, was granted at the start of 2024.
Alongside a new healthcare facility, it’s expected to feature new apartments, a supermarket and filling station.
