The holding company of formerly Dublin-listed recruitment firm CPL Resources paid a maiden €150 million dividend to its immediate parent earlier this year, five years after its takeover by Japanese group Outsourcing.
The payout equates to almost half of the €318 million Outsourcing paid for the company in early 2021, which delivered €110 million for cofounder Anne Heraty and her family.
The dividend comes two years after Outsourcing itself was acquired by Boston private equity giant Bain Capital for 220 billion Japanese yen (€1.2 billion). The Tokyo-based group was subsequently renamed Brexa last year.
The dividend was paid to CPL’s immediate parent, UK-based Brexa International, on February 27th, according to the latest set of accounts for Outsourcing Talent Ireland Limited, the Irish holding company, filed recently with the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
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The dividend was the same value as a loan the Irish company had extended to its ultimate Japanese parent as of the end of last year, which was carrying an interest rate of 3.49 per cent. The parent owed it €112.5 million at the end of 2024.
CPL is focused on providing temporary and contract staff – or what it calls flexible talent – as well as permanent hires in the areas of technology, accounting and finance, sales, engineering, light industrial, healthcare, pharmaceutical and office administration.
The accounts show that operating profit for the group came to €27 million last year before exceptional charges. That fell broadly in line with the out-turn for 2024 as revenues rose 15.3 per cent to €833.1 million – driven by its Irish flexible talent business.
It also has businesses in Britain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.
Net profit fell by 41 per cent to €15.4 million after the company booked €11.4 million of exceptional charges, including a loss on the sale of a subsidiary, restructuring expenses and professional costs for some acquisition activities.
The group had an average of 12,204 staff last year – 92 per cent of whom were described as flexible talent – compared to 11,280 a year earlier.
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“Market conditions remain challenging. Notwithstanding this, the group has successfully mitigated a significant portion of the impact through disciplined cost control initiatives and a strategic focus on higher growth and more resilient service lines, particularly homecare and managed services (across multiple sectors),” the financial statement said.
“The directors are satisfied with the performance of the group in the year and are committed to continued growth of revenue and profitability in the coming years.”
Heraty, who cofounded CPL in 1989 and became the first woman chief executive of an Irish publicly quoted company a decade later when she floated the business, exited the board in mid-2024, shortly after the Bain deal was completed. The Co Longford native was succeeded as CPL chief executive in 2022 by Lorna Conn, who previously served as chief financial officer.
