Plastics company One51 first-half profits jump 37% to €11.3m

Plastics manufacturer and waste manager One51 has reported a 51 per cent increase in group revenue to €214.6 million for the first-half of the year.

Earnings (Ebitda) grew by 105 per cent to €27.2 million during the six months ended June 30, while pre-tax profit climbed 37 per cent to €11.3 million.

The profit for the period after tax and exceptional items amounted to €8.9 million.

Net debt increased since December 31st 2015 by €26.5 million to €146.8 million at period end.

One51 group chief executive Alan Walsh said the second half of the year started satisfactorily across all divisions with a number of significant capital investment projects undertaken in the first half of the year now coming into production.

He said the interim results were ahead of expectations, in large part due to the strong performance of IPL, the North-American acquisition made in July 2015.

“We have successfully integrated the transformative IPL acquisition into our plastics division. That business, which has performed ahead of expectation since acquisition, delivered very strong results during the first half of the year.”

However, he said UK earnings were adversely affected by the fall in the value of sterling in the wake of Brexit.

“Other potential impacts of Brexit are difficult to assess currently but should become clearer in the second half of the year.”

Revenues increased by 43 per cent to €25.3 million at One 51’s specialist environmental services division, ClearCircle, primarily as a result of an increase in project related work in Ireland and a contribution from the acquisitions in the UK. Ebitda increased by 42 per cent to €2.7 million.

Plastics and waste

One51 makes wheelie bins and other plastic products, manages hazardous waste and holds a number of investments.

One51 revenues jumped 32.4 per cent to €366 million last year, while Ebitda jumped by 67 per cent to €36.1 million.

In April, One51 was forced to pull plans for a stockmarket flotation after objections from some of its major shareholders. Among those believed to have objected were Dermot Desmond’s IIU, which owns around 23 per cent of the company. Among the contentious issues were believed to have been plans to dilute existing shareholders by bringing in new investors ahead of the float. Other major shareholders include a number of other co-ops, including Kerry, and a company owned by Larry Goodman.