New consolidated accounts filed by the Maughan family- owned Convest Ltd – the ultimate owner of Gowan Group and its subsidiaries – show profits declined as revenues decreased by 10pc from €591.85m to €532.29m.
Established in 1969, the group is most closely associated with the distribution of cars including Alfa Romeo, DS Automobiles, Citroen, Fiat, Honda, Jeep, Opel and Peugeot. The group also includes Gowan Home, Senator Windows and other interests such as property and investment portfolios.
In August of this year, the Gowan Group expanded its portfolio of brands by adding Leapmotor – one of China’s fastest-growing electric vehicle brands.
The accounts are signed off by the largest shareholder, Gemma Maughan, and daughter and director Alba Smith.
The drop in profits came against the background of new car sales dropping marginally in 2024 to 116,693 vehicles from 117,424 new car sales in 2023.
The €59.5m drop in revenues also followed the Gowan Group offloading its car retail division to the Bright Motor Group in 2023 in order to focus its motor division on wholesale distribution.
The group’s operating profit last year reduced by 22pc from €28.37m to €22.19m and interest payments of €6.2m and a non-cash impairment of €637,000 contributed to profits reducing to a pre-tax profit of €15.33m.
The group enjoyed a post-tax profit of €13.68m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €1.65m.
On the 2024 performance, the directors state that they “are satisfied with the performance of the group in the 2024 financial year and are optimistic about the future prospects of the group”.
They state that the group “is in a strong financial position”.
Numbers employed decreased by 19 from 359 to 340 as staff costs reduced from €28.45m to €25.58m. The workforce was made up of 131 in sales, 112 in parts/service and warehouse staff and 97 in administration.
Directors’ pay increased marginally from €2.91m to €2.94m.
The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €2.64m. The group last year spent €5m on the purchase of tangible assets.
Shareholder funds totalled €133.57m that included accumulated profits of €130m. Cash funds increased from €13.17m to €15m.
No dividend was paid out by the group in 2024.
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