A subsidiary of drinks group C&C has just filed an interesting set of accounts that sheds further light on the accounting fiasco that engulfed the Bulmers Irish Cider maker last year.
The imbroglio compelled the group to restate three years of earnings due to errors and led to the resignation of chief executive Patrick McMahon in June 2024. Having taken on the role in 2023, the former chief financial officer barely had his feet under the desk when the group acknowledged the errors publicly and announced his departure.
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Tennents NI is a distribution company in the group that also produces and markets well-known brands like Tennent’s, Magners Irish Cider and Five Lamps. In 2023, the company overstated its operating profits by almost £250,000 (€290,000), according to a note in its latest set of accounts. The restated figure in the 2024 accounts is just over £2.3 million compared with some £2.57 million in the previous, inaccurate financial statements.
The value of the company’s stocks was also overstated to the tune of £455,000 in the 2023 filings, according to the note, “due to the incorrect treatment applied to the inventory of branded glassware”. Tennents NI also understated its 2023 operating expenses by a sizeable £7 million due to “errors” related to the “classification of excise duty payments”. Turnover, meanwhile, was understated by a more modest £52,000 in 2023, the correct figure being £61.2 million.
Overall, C&C said last year the errors cost the group €11 million in adjustment charges related to its 2021, 2022 and 2023 financial statements.
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Bruising though the scandal was, C&C’s new chief executive, Roger White, is grappling with more pressing matters currently. In March, just two months after his appointment, the group cut its full-year earnings guidance, largely due to softer cider sales in Britain. It now expects to report underlying earnings in the range of €76 million to €78 million for the year ended February 28th 2025, below targets due to softer trading in January and February.
Consequently, C&C’s share price is down by about 1.2 per cent this year and more than 13 per cent over the past 12 months. The group’s full-year results, due on May 28th, are keenly awaited, it’s safe to say.
