New group accounts filed by Distilled Ltd show pre-tax profits fell, despite revenues rising by 14pc from €41.38m to €47m in 2024.
Brothers Eamonn and Brian Fallon, who set up property website Daft.ie, each have a 17pc share in Distilled.
Accounts show Distilled Ltd paid out dividends of €17.3m this year and €11.5m in 2024. These follow generous dividend payouts made in previous years.
In a deal last November, the entire Distilled business was valued at €624m after European online classifieds group Adevinta sold its 50pc stake in Distilled Ltd for €312m to Dublin-based fund manager Blacksheep Fund Management.
The deal put an estimated value of €212m on the Fallon brothers’ joint 34pc share in the business.
Separate accounts filed to Companies House in the UK show Adevinta entity Aurelia UK Feederco Ltd booked a gain of €159m in 2024 from the €312m deal.
Distilled is one of the country’s most successful online ventures and along with Daft.ie and DoneDeal.ie, the group also operates Adverts.ie and Gumtree.ie.
Distilled’s diversified portfolio continues to deliver strong momentum
Daft.ie was established in 1997, when the Fallon brothers were aged 20 and 15. Distilled was created in 2015 after Daft.ie operations, along with that of sister company Adverts.ie, were merged with Norway-based Schibsted Media’s DoneDeal.ie.
Numbers employed by the group in 2024 increased from 148 to 162 as staff costs rose from €14.16m to €15.48m.
Staff costs included termination payments of €315,652.
Commenting on the 2024 results, a spokeswoman said: “Distilled’s diversified portfolio continues to deliver strong momentum across verticals, underpinned by high consumer engagement and ongoing product innovation.”
Figures provided by Distilled show DoneDeal attracts 6.4 million monthly visitors.
Adverts.ie continues to perform as a peer-to-peer marketplace, drawing around two million monthly users.
The spokeswoman said: “The platform remains resilient, with sustained user activity across a broad range of categories.”
The Distilled group business last year recorded post-tax profit of €4.32m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €3.23m.
Directors’ pay in 2024 totalled €405,067.
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