Newly-filed accounts for Applus Inspection Services Ireland show that it handed €5.6m over to its parent firm last year in respect of its 2024 financial performance. It also paid €2m last year in respect of its 2023 performance.
The accounts show that profits at the Irish arm jumped to €6.6m last year from just over €1m in 2023. Its revenue rose to €103.2m from €91m in 2023.
Of its revenue last year, €94.9m was generated from NCT testing, while €7.9m was derived from vehicle registration tax conformance on vehicle imports to Ireland.
Applus has a 10-year contract to operate the NCT service, with the contract having come into effect in 2020. The Road Safety Authority has statutory responsibility for the operation and delivery of the National Car Test service.
The Applus directors note in the accounts that the 2024 financial performance was “positive” and reflected the increased throughput of vehicles for testing as the company said it increased its staff numbers.
However, the accounts show that the average number of employees at the company slipped last year to 843 from 849. The number of sales and operations staff declined to 781 from 789, while management numbers rose by two.
In the accounts, the company confirmed the dividends paid to its owner.
In December 2024, it declared and paid a €2m dividend in respect of the 2023 financial year.
“Additionally, a dividend of €5.6m for the interim results of the 2024 financial year was declared and paid,” the accounts add. “It is noteworthy that no interim dividend was declared in the previous year. The directors have resolved not to propose a final dividend for the year ending December 31, 2024.”
Last year, Applus eliminated a waiting list for appointments and the company said it returned to compliance targets. Under its service agreement, the company must adhere to a target average maximum wait time for tests of 12 days.
However, incidents such as severe weather can prompt people to postpone or cancel their tests, or result in test centres being temporarily closed, which can have a subsequent impact on test wait times.
Spain’s Applus provides testing services in about 65 countries.
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