Revenue at the Irish arm of fast-food giant McDonald’s fell by €20.7 million last year due to the impact of Covid-19.
New accounts for McDonald's Restaurants of Ireland Ltd show pretax profit fell by 70 per cent in 2020 to €6 million with revenue decreasing by 30 per cent from €69 million to €48.2 million.
During the period, the McDonald’s operation here was made up of 93 franchised stores and two owner-operated outlets, representing no change from 2019.
The company’s operating profit declined by 69 per cent to €6.35 million and a non-cash property impairment of €347,000 contributed to profits reducing further.
The directors state revenue and profit reduced due to the pandemic which resulted in restricted trading with all outlets shut from March 23rd, 2020, and gradually reopening as lockdown measures eased.
Despite the sharp drop in profit and revenue last year, the directors said “the company anticipates continued expansion of its operations in the Republic”.
Numbers directly employed by McDonald’s here last year reduced from 170 to 147 and staff costs declined by 20 per cent from €4.3 million to €3.5 million.
The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €3.5 million, amortisation costs of €747,000 and lease costs of €15 million.
McDonald’s recorded a post-tax profit of €5.53 million after paying corporation tax of €468,000. At the end of December last, shareholder funds totalled €103.45 million.
Its cash funds reduced from €18.9 million to €13.3 million and it paid no dividend last year after paying out one of €20 million in 2019.
The company on January 1st, 2018, became tax resident in the UK as the business is now managed and controlled from there and pays Irish corporation tax on its owner-operated stores, which numbered two at the end of 2020.
