THE REFRIGERATION firm owned by Independent TD for Tipperary North Michael Lowry has reported a 31 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to €354,000 in 2009, according to accounts just filed.
The cash balances of Garuda Ltd surged to €852,000 at the end of the year from €166,000 a year earlier as the value of projects plummeted to €106,000 from €1.6 million, reflecting the economic slump.
Mr Lowry said the figures illustrated the climate in which small businesses were operating.
“It is a case of survival,” he said. “Anyone who can survive and keep the wolf from the door – that’s the name of the game.”
The firm employed about 30 direct staff and subcontractors, said the former Fine Gael minister, down from almost 50 about three years ago.
Industry sources said Mr Lowry’s refrigeration business holds contracts with large supermarket chains Dunnes Stores, Tesco, Superquinn and Lidl.
The directors’ report submitted with the accounts says that the recession was the main risk facing the Co Tipperary-based company.
The company had shareholders’ funds worth €2.2 million at the end of up the year – an increase of almost €300,000 on the previous year – but did not pay a dividend.
Some 11 direct employees of the company, including directors Mr Lowry and his brother Pat, shared €659,000 in wages and salaries.
Directors’ remuneration amounted to €370,000 for the year, the majority of which was paid to Pat Lowry. The accounts state that Michael Lowry received a payment of €45,000 in the year.
A further €109,700 was due to Abbeygreen Consulting, a company also owned by Mr Lowry.
Garuda was the subject of a company law investigation in the aftermath of the 1997 McCracken tribunal of inquiry into payments made by Dunnes to politicians.
The refrigeration company later made a €1.12 million tax settlement following the investigations.
Mr Lowry resigned as a Fine Gael minister in the rainbow government in 1996 after it emerged that extensive work on the renovation of his Tipperary home had been paid for by Dunnes and treated in the retailer’s books as work on one of its Dublin stores.
