FERMANAGH group Mannok Holdings, formerly Quinn Industrial Holdings, managed to hold its earnings at just under €26 million last year, despite the impact of inflation.
The Derrylin-headquartered company saw turnover rise by €47.8 million (£42m) – or 17.7 per cent - to €317.7m (£280m) for the 12 months ending December 31 2022, largely driven by inflationary induced pricing.
Mannok operates two key divisions, manufacturing cement, concrete, quarry and aggregate products and insulation materials, as well as packaging products, mainly for the food industry.
Announcing an overview of its 2022 performance, the company said that despite the inflationary environment, its EBITA (earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization), remained unchanged at €25.8m (£22.8m) for the 12 months to December 31 2022.
The Fermanagh company said its earnings performance reflected “a gradual pass through of rising input costs, fluctuations in the euro-sterling exchange rate and a softening of demand in response to price pressures”.
Mannok said it maintained employment levels and continues to employ over 800 staff, an increase of 150 since 2014, making it one of the largest employers in the Fermanagh-Cavan border region.
“Operationally, our focus in 2022 was to mitigate inflationary impacts for our customers and employees and to ensure continuing momentum as inflationary pressures ease,” said the company’s chief executive, Liam McCaffrey.
“Strategically, decarbonisation has been and remains a fundamental priority.”
Last year saw the company partner with FL Smidth, to develop and implement a new combustion system, which Mannok said will remove 40,000 tonnes of coal and more than 58,000 tonnes of carbon emissions from cement production annually, equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of a mid-sized town.
“Our decarbonisation programme continues and post year-end we are progressing plans to generate green hydrogen on site, that will be used to replace diesel across over 70 per cent of the company’s 150 heavy-goods truck fleet on a phased basis by 2035,” said Mr McCaffrey.
“This investment is part of a broader suite of green Investments that will include wind and solar energy to deliver on our commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 33 per cent by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050.
“We remain actively engaged with Evercore Partners on the optimum funding solutions to support this investment which is aimed at delivering positive commercial and climate change impacts.”
Commenting on outlook for the year ahead, Mannok chief financial officer, Dara O’Reilly said: “Following some volatility in activity levels in 2022, we are seeing renewed momentum year to date and firmer demand, that inform a more encouraging outlook for the year ahead.
“Capital expenditure across the business increased by a further €11.6m (£10.2m) in the period bringing total investment since acquiring the businesses in December 2014 to over €90m (£79.3m).”
