The business performance of Grassland Agro in 2023 was impacted by “intense price decreases in the fertiliser trade and cost increases at all levels in the market” according to its latest annual report.
The company, which manufactures and sells agricultural fertilisers, reported a turnover of €127.4 million for the financial year ending December 31, 2023 – down from €214.4 million for the 2022 financial year.
The latest financial results also show that the company declared an operating loss of of €2.66 million for the 2023 financial year which is a sharp reverse from the position Grassland Agro was in one year earlier, when it posted an operating profit of €9.18 million.
Grassland Agro Ireland Limited’s parent and ultimate controlling party is Compagnie Financière et de Participations Roullier SA, a company which is registered in France.
Grassland Agro
In their directors report for the financial year ending December 31, 2023 they state that “the speciality part of the business continued to develop in line with expectations”.
“The ongoing investment in recruiting and training technical sales personnel continues to drive this development,” they also added.
However they outlined that “no research and development was undertaken by the company during the current or previous years”.
The latest financial accounts show that the value of the company’s net assets decreased from €19.9 million in 2022 to just over €8 million by December 2023.
The value placed on raw materials, packing material and finished goods and goods for resale also dropped from €78 million in 2022 to €42.1 million in 2023.
“An impairment provision of €4,253,000 (2022 – €11,529,000) has been recognised in the profit and loss account,” the accounts show.
The accounts also details that turnover from the sale of goods slumped from €214 million in 2022 to €127 million in 2023.
Grassland Agro Ireland employed an average of 148 people last year and staff costs totaled €7.9 million.
In relation to the total renumeration for directors and senior management the “total key management compensation” amounted to €354,981 in 2023 – down from €518,142 a year earlier.
The 2023 accounts also show that an interim dividend of €30.69 cent (2022 – €23.05 cent) per ordinary share amounting to €7,672,619 – compared to €5,764,000 in 2022 – was paid during the financial year.