Cosmetics giant Coty's Irish unit made a million-euro profit the year it cut 200 jobs in Tipperary
The Nenagh plant that made Max Factor products was shuttered in 2017.
THE IRISH WING of cosmetics firm Coty delivered a million-euro profit the year the company axed 200 jobs at a Tipperary plant for Max Factor products.
Newly filed accounts for Coty Ireland Ltd show that the make-up manufacturer recorded sales of €19.2 million during the 12 months to the end of June 2017, down on 2016′s tally of €21.8 million.
The company delivered an operating profit of more than €1.5 million last year, a decline of about €800,000 on the previous 12-month period. The firm’s net profit was in excess of €1.3 million, down from more than €2 million in 2016.
In March 2017, it was announced that Coty would close its manufacturing facility in Nenagh, culling 200 jobs in the process. The decision came as a surprise to some local politicians.
Speaking to Fora at the time, then-Sinn Féin councillor Seamus Morris said the factory closure was a “huge body blow to everyone in the town”.
“This Coty plant is the last foreign direct investment of its size in Nenagh. FDI just hasn’t been flowing into the area,” Morris said last year.
Coty's Nenagh plant
Up for sale
According to the directors’ report accompanying Coty Ireland’s latest accounts – which was signed off on 31 July of this year – the trade, assets and liabilities of the Irish company were transferred to a UK operation last month.
The directors said that it was likely the Irish company “will cease trading in the next 12 months”.
Coty’s shuttered plant – which was put up for sale in January – is based on the old site of the Procter & Gamble manufacturing facility and had been in operation since 1978. It was acquired by the firm in October 2016 as part of a $12.9 billion merger deal.
The facility is still being advertised by property firm Colliers International with an asking price of €3.4 million.
The New York-headquartered Coty group – which produces fragrances and skincare products for brands like Rimmel, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss – recorded a net loss for the year to June 2017 of $169 million, compared to the $422 million net loss recorded for 2016.
