THE Newry construction firm building the new £70 million PwC headquarters in the centre of Belfast, Belfast has reported an 8.2 per cent rise in its turnover.
The latest set of accounts released this week for Felix O’Hare and Company reveal that the firm’s revenues grew from £48.6m to £52.6m during the 12 months to March 31 2019.
Pre-tax profits slipped slightly by 2.6 per cent to £2.2m for the year.
The report covers the period in which the Newry group moved to close its training division during December 2018.
Although the vast bulk of the company’s revenues stem from its construction activities, the training operation within Felix O’Hare had generated as much as £715,747 during 2017-18.
Last year that fell substantially to £374,800.
The closure of the division came in a year where the Newry firm’s workforce decreased from 135 to 124 in 2019.
The construction company’s total payroll costs still increased to £5.7m for the year.
Directors’ remuneration also climbed from £610,186 to £728,613 during the year, with the highest paid director receiving £188,144, including pension contributions.
Established in 1944, Felix O’Hare’s roots remain firmly set in Newry, however its footprint is increasingly spread across the island of Ireland, particularly in the education and healthcare sectors.
Last year, the company began work on the Merchant Square development on Belfast’s Wellington Place. In July, PwC confirmed it will lease the entire building for 20 years, marking the largest ever private sector office let in Belfast.
This year also saw Felix O’Hare secure the £30m contract to build the new students’ union building at Queen’s University in Belfast. It follows a number of significant construction projects around the University, including the Great Hall, School of Law and the Ashby Tower.
The Newry firm is currently on site at the £35m Southern Regional College in Armagh.
According to the latest set of accounts, the year to March 2019 saw a shift in workload north of the border for Felix O’Hare.
The Newry firm’s operations in the Northern Ireland market enjoyed a 16 per cent growth in revenue to £45.5m, while projects in the south of Ireland generated £7.1m in turnover, a 25 per cent drop from 2018.
In a brief strategic report, the company’s managing director Gerry Gray said: “The directors consider the state of the company’s affairs to be satisfactory. Whilst there has been a slight fall in both the gross profit margin and the profit before tax, turnover has increased from the previous year.”
He added: “Economic uncertainty due to recent political events and general uncertainties regarding availability of funds for construction industry clients are considered to be the principal risk and uncertainties facing the company.”
