PM Group’s revenues surge 80 per cent to €355m as sales rise

PM Group, the Dublin group that provides construction, engineering and project management services to multinationals worldwide, last year recorded a sharp spike in its revenue, which rose more than 80 per cent to €355 million.

The boost was due mainly to a quadrupling of sales in its continental European division, which accounts for more than half of the group’s revenue, as well as a two-thirds increase in UK sales as the company’s client base invested heavily in new factories and other facilities.

Accounts for the group provided to The Irish Times show that heavy price competition in its markets meant the surge in sales was not mirrored in proportion in its profitability. The group still managed to boost its operating profit by 26 per cent to €7.2 million.

PM Group’s balance sheet shows it is now sitting on an accumulated profits of €42.2 million, and a cash pile of close to €30 million.

The group, which employs 1,100 staff in Ireland and another 1,000 or so abroad, is based in Tallaght and is chaired by former Enterprise Ireland chief executive Dan Flinter, who is also chairman of the board of the Irish Times Ltd. It specialises in helping to build facilities in the pharmaceutical, food and IT industries.

Strong Belgian performance Dave Murphy, the group's chief executive, said the surge in its European revenue was partly down to a very strong performance in Belgium, where it has been active for more than 10 years. Its major projects there include a vaccines factory for GlaxoSmithKline, as well as a Sanofi biologics plant.

He said its performance in Asia was a "mixed bag", as the rate of growth slowed in the region's economic giants such as China.

"Singapore was still buoyant for us, however," he said.

He said the group plans to expand its US operations, which currently comprise an office on the east coast and another on the west. PM Group’s US revenues were only a fraction of its overall sales last year, at €3.6 million.

Mr Murphy said the company is hoping for significant growth in coming years in its Irish operations, where sales dipped slightly last year to €104 million.

“In our home market we are focused on the pharmaceutical industry in particular. There is a resurgence in that sector, and many of the pharma companies coming into Ireland are smaller but looking to grow fast,” he said.

Some of the sector's investment, he said, was down to the race to find new blockbuster drugs. Earlier this year, PM Group won a contract to help build a €75 million Dublin facility for Alexion, which develops drugs for people with rare diseases.

“We are also hoping to expand in the international oil and gas industry,” said Mr Murphy. PM Group signed a partnership agreement last year with a Canadian company operating in this space.