Sisk reports €24m profit and pays €39m to shareholders

The Sisk construction group made a profit after tax of €24 million in 2003 and paid a dividend of €39 million to its shareholders.

The difference between the profit and the dividend was made up from funds in the group's accumulated profits, according to the consolidated accounts for John Sisk & Son Holdings Ltd for the year to end December 2003.

The retained profit at the end of the year and after the payment of the dividend, was €61 million.

The chairman of the group, Mr George H Sisk, along with his wife and a family trust, owns one third of the Sisk group.

Turnover during 2003 was €729 million, including its share of a number of joint ventures.

Notes to the accounts show that the bulk of the group's turnover was in Ireland (€573.7 million), followed by the UK (€151 million) and the rest of the world (€3.9 million).

The contracting and civil engineering group has recently acquired Bideem Holdings Ltd, which operates construction, rail maintenance and plant hire businesses in the UK, according to the accounts.

Staff costs for 2003 were €83.5 million. The average number of people employed was 1,926 with the bulk of these, 1,134, being employed in Ireland.

The numbers employed represented a significant drop on the average for the previous year, which was 3,410.

Directors' remuneration was €1.4 million. The directors at year end were: Mr George Herbert Sisk (chairman); Mr Bernard O'Connell (managing director); Mr Conor Dunne; and Mr James Sykes. Mr FJ O'Flynn retired in June 2003. Directors' emoluments included a payment of €42,000 categorised as compensation for loss of office.

A decision during the year to cease the operations of Rilmount Developments Ltd, which was expected to terminate operations in 2004, was expected to involve redundancy payments and losses on disposal of assets totalling €787,000.

A provision for future trading losses of €622,000 was recorded at the end of 2003.

The ultimate holding company for the group was Sicon Ltd. Mr G H Sisk, together with his wife and family trust, owned one third of the ordinary and preference shares in Sicon, at end 2003.

The report shows that a payment of €5.7 million was made during 2003 to improve the pension scheme for the group's Irish workers.

The combined value of the group's UK and Irish pension schemes' assets at end 2003 was €58 million.

As well as Ireland and the UK, the group has subsidiaries in Jersey, Holland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi.

It is involved in two residential property developments as a joint venture partner. These are the Cherry Orchard Partnership and the Hanover Quay Partnership.