Irish arms of SurveyMonkey, Slack and Etsy report strong results

US technology companies with Irish operations put in strong performances last year, newly filed accounts for SurveyMonkey, Slack and Etsy show.

Online survey company SurveyMonkey, which last month floated on the Nasdaq, reported a 5.4 per cent rise in revenues at its Irish arm, with turnover climbing from $74.7 million (€65.4 million) to $78.7 million (€68.9 million).

Pretax profits slipped to $1.14 million from $1.27 million.

Staff costs at the company, which employed 41 people locally at the end of 2017, totalled €5.05 million, up from €4.16 million a year earlier.

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SurveyMonkey, established in 1999 by Ryan and Chris Finley in Portland, opened its Irish operations in 2014.

Slack, an enterprise collaboration platform that has raised more than $400 million, reported a more than doubling of turnover to €25.1 million from €12.2 million at its Irish subsidiary. It also reported an after-tax profit of €478,686, down from €560,628 a year earlier.

The company, which first established an office in Dublin – its first facility outside North America – in May 2015, said it had assets of €51.5 million and liabilities of €50.8 million, compared with €9.7 million and €8.9 million respectively for the prior year.

Slack employed 113 people at the end of 2017, with staff-related costs totalling €11.6 million, up from €6.4 million in 2016.

Etsy bounces back

Etsy, a company that has faced pressure in the past over its Irish tax strategy, last year bounced back from a €59.3 million loss at its local subsidiary to record a €13.47 million pretax profit.

The ecommerce website, which focuses on hand-made or vintage items, recorded turnover of €82.3 million, up from €59.4 million the previous year.

The company had net assets of €29.7 million at the end of 2017, compared with liabilities of €126.3 million in 2016, with the increase primarily due to a capital injection by its parent.

“The directors are pleased with the turnaround of the company and the financial forecasts indicate continuing reserve growth and profitability,” the company said in a note included with the latest accounts.

Etsy, which employed 55 people in Ireland last year, had staff costs totalling €4.4 million.