Building company Heron Bros made a pre-tax profit of £11.6m in the year ending August 31 2023.
The most recent accounts from the Co Londonderry company also show a £40m jump in turnover from the previous accounting period.
Heron Bros is a family-owned construction and property development company based in Draperstown.
The firm recorded a turnover of £154m in the last year, a 35% jump from 2022’s figure of £114m.
Most of the company’s turnover comes from the sale of goods, with £151m coming in from those sources, with £3.1m generated through rental income. Heron Bros is the biggest landlord for private industrial land in Northern Ireland.
Cost of sales also increased at the business, going up to £135m from £98m the previous year, while their administrative expenses increased by £400,000 to £10.5m.
Taking into account other incomes and gains, the company made a pre-tax profit of £11.6m in 2023, a 5.7% rise from their 2022 profit of £10.9m.
On the company’s balance sheet, current assets grew to £164m, up from £135m in the prior period.
This is partly accounted for by a big increase in debt owed to the company, which rose 36% last year to £122m from £89m.
This debt breaks down as a a £13m jump in money owed to Heron Bros from trade debtors, and a increase of £21m owed by group undertakings.
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The company had a small increase in the number of staff in the past year. It now employs 317 people on average, up from 305 the prior year.
There was accordingly a small increase in staff costs, with wages, salaries and pensions costing the company £13.9m, up from £13.3m.
Directors’ remuneration increased by £30,000 last year, up to £1.78m.
The company also saw some notable changes in the past year with the direction of cash flows with related parties.
Heron Property Ltd paid Heron Bros £3.2m in 2023, having charged them £13.7m the year before. They now owe Heron Bros a total of £5.9m.
Meanwhile, Northern Mouldings Ltd received £500,000 from the company last year, having paid Heron Bros £2.4m in 2022.
Heron Bros was founded by six brothers in 1956, and has grown to become an multi-national company with offices in London, Glasgow, Manchester and a division in Poland.
It was ranked 53 in the Belfast Telegraph’s Top 100 Companies in NI for 2024.
It has secured several high-value contracts in NI over recent years, including the £70m Ballycastle Shared Education Campus.