Coillte has announced its annual results for 2013, with profit after tax of €25.8m, an increase of 69% on 2012 with turnover of €275m, up from €262m in 2012.
Turnover increased by €13.6m (5%) during 2013 to €275.7m, while operating profit before exceptional items was €41.3m in 2013 up from €35m in 2012. The increased contribution reflects increased sales volume and panel board prices.
Profit after tax increased to €25.8m up from €15.3m in 2012 and a dividend of €2m was paid to shareholders.
The Group continued its capital expenditure programme in 2013 investing €41.2m, of which over 80% was spent enhancing and maintaining the forest estate. Export sales accounted for 59% of Group turnover and 64% of this figure was sold into the UK market.
Acting Chief Executive Mr. Gerry Britchfield said: “Coillte delivered a strong financial performance in 2013, and I am pleased to report that we delivered an operating profit of €41.3m. 2013 proved to be a year of two halves for us – the first half of the year was extremely challenging with the UK market exiting slowly from recession, however there was a significant improvement in the second half of the year. We are forecasting a significantly improved trading environment across all business areas for 2014 and our ambition is to continue to deliver a strong profit performance for our shareholders. We have seen a good first half of the year to date and are looking forward to delivering on our targets for the full year.”
In 2013 Coillte continued to expand in the renewable energy sector, securing planning consent for a 33 MW wind farm in Cork and significantly advancing three other wind farm projects with a combined capacity of 200MW. Coillte also remained focussed on finding new and innovative ways of adding value to the land that it manages and in 2013 the company launched a partnership with OCMS to market Coillte properties for film, television and event business.