Setanta Sports returned to profit ahead of Eir acquisition

The former Setanta Sports, which was acquired by Ireland's biggest telecoms group Eir in early December, returned to profit last year.

Now rebranded as Eir Sports, the company recorded a €37,605 pretax profit for 2015, versus a €84,596 loss a year earlier.

Recently filed abridged accounts show Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited reported a €2.5 million gross profit for the year, compared to a €2.1 million profit in 2014.

Accumulated losses for the company declined slightly to €46.1 million.

Setanta Sports employed 58 people at the end of 2015, up from 49 in the prior year. Staff costs rose to €2.8 million from €2.4 million.

The company’s parent prior to the recent acquisition was Setanta Sports Broadcasting Limited, which also recently filed accounts showing a rise in accumulated losses from €824,551 in 2014 to €1.05 million last year.

Setanta Sports Channel Ireland Limited was acquired by Eir late last year for an undisclosed sum. Industry sources suggested the company was worth about €20 million.

The company, which operated two sports channels in Ireland and had high-tech production facilities in Dublin's city centre, was launched in 2004. Virgin Media dropped the rebranded channels from its cable TV platform at the end of July after failing to agree commercial terms on a new deal for the pack of six channels, which also includes BT Sports.

Eir is currently offering its sports channels free to its own customers as part of a broadband bundle.