Profits surge at Dublin data centre builder as revenues increase to €685m

Gordon Deegan

Underlying pre-tax profits at data centre builder, Winthrop Technologies last year increased by nine per cent to €64.7 million.

New consolidated accounts for the Dublin headquartered Winthrop Technologies Ltd show that underlying pre-tax profits increased from €59.2 million to €64.7 million as revenues rose by 22 per cent from €560 million to €685 million in the 12 months to the end of April last year.

The accounts show that the underlying pre-tax profits for the engineering group were hit by a €50 million exceptional loss concerning a company restructuring that was “incurred in the merger by absorption of a group entity”.

This resulted in a pre-tax profit of €14.74 million - down 75 per cent on the pre-tax profits of €59.18m in 2021.

The accounts state that the firm “has a strong order book for 2023 and beyond and a strong cash generating capability”.

The group recorded post tax profits of €12.27 million after paying corporation tax of €2.46 million.

The directors state that the results for fiscal 2022 were “ahead of expectation” and they expect to see "continued strong growth in future years".

They state that the €125m revenue increase to €685m last year was as a result of an increase in turnkey data centre delivery.

On the company website, the firm states that "we are currently constructing multiple turnkey data centre projects in nine different European countries, equating to over 300MW of IT load in flight."

The business paid out a dividend of €72.6 million during last year and this followed a dividend payout of €60m in the prior year.

The business is controlled by founder and majority shareholder, Barry English while former Ryanair deputy CEO and chief operating officer, Michael Cawley was appointed as a director in January 2022 and chairs the board.

The business is led by CEO and shareholder, Anne Dooley. A mechanical engineer, Ms Dooley joined Winthrop Technologies in 1997 during Winthrop’s start-up phase.

Numbers employed by the group last year increased from 457 to 598 as staff costs increased sharply from €48.9m to €69.74 million.

Pay to directors increased from €438,479 to €609,794.

The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €498,689 and a €508,876 loss on the disposal of tangible assets.

The firm's shareholder at the end of April last year totalled €29.33 million while the group's cash funds declined from €44.95 million to €18.5 million.

On the risks facing the business, the directors state that in common with all companies operating in Ireland and Europe in this sector, the group faces increasing energy and material costs.