Revenue slumped at the main Irish arm of consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble (P&G) last year following the firm’s decision to exit manufacturing here.
New accounts filed by Procter & Gamble (Manufacturing) Ireland Ltd show that in the 12 months to the end of June, the firm’s revenues declined 47 per cent to €58.17 million. The business posted a pretax profit of €7.26 million, which was a slight decrease on the pretax profits of €7.9 million in 2021.
The drop in sales followed the company announcing the sale of its Newbridge plant to Mapaex Health and Personalcare Ireland Private Limited, part of Makson Group.
The transaction includes the trade and assets of the Newbridge manufacturing site for $10.5 million.
The P&G manufacturing portfolio here included Oral-B toothbrushes, floss and power refills and Braun ethanol cartridges.
As part of the transaction, P&G made a contribution of €45 million to the company pension scheme on April 26th, 2022.
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The directors said the period up to May 1st, 2022, saw production remain consistent with the prior year.
They said: “Initiatives have been taken to remain cost competitive resulting in improved productivity metrics behind automation, flow to the work and work process improvement interventions.”
They added that cost remains a challenge, with an increase in commodity prices being partially offset by internal cost savings and productivity initiatives.
The firm recorded post-tax profits of €1.36 million after paying corporation tax of €5.9 million.
The P&G firm had previously said that all of its staff at its Newbridge site would transfer to the new owners.
Numbers employed by the firm increased from 357 to 383 while staff costs declined from €31.7 million to €28 million.
Directors’ pay last year totalled €456,00, which included aggregate emoluments of €287,000, €114,000 paid under long-term incentive schemes and pension contributions of €55,000.
The sale of the Newbridge plant completed on May 1st of last year marked the end of P&G’s manufacturing operations in Ireland, which used to comprise three facilities.
The company closed its Braun shaver refill plant in Carlow in 2011, with the loss of 167 jobs. In 2016 its Nenagh plant, which produced mascaras and powders for the Max Factor range, transferred to rival beauty business Coty as part of a $12.9 billion sale of P&G’s speciality beauty business.
