Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa lift pre-tax profits to €1.66m at Warner Music Ireland

Gordon Deegan

Music sales by Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa and Coldplay last year contributed to pre-tax profits increasing by 20 per cent to €1.66 million at the Irish arm of music giant, Warner Music.

New accounts filed by Warner Music Ireland Ltd show the revenues from music streaming and physical sales increased during the year.

In the year under review, the fifth studio album by one of the company’s global stars, Ed Sheeran = reached number one here and boosted revenues.

Overall, revenues at the firm deceased by 5 per cent from €15.73 million to €14.92 million in the 12 months to the end of September last.

Revenues last year were made up of direct sales of €14.15 million and royalty and licence fee income of €776,343.

The directors state that they believe that the company will continue to increase revenues.

On the firm’s future developments, the directors state that the firm “is embracing the spectrum of opportunities presented by digital technology to deepen the connection between fans and artists”.

They state that “creating and developing new business models to accelerate its business transformation remains a top strategic imperative ”.

The firm last year recorded a post tax profit of €1.4 million after paying out corporation tax of €253,169.

Numbers employed remained at 12 last year, made up of five in promotion, advertising and publicity, four in selling and distribution and three in administration.

Pay to directors more than halved from €755,295 to €305,170 and the chief factor was €382,075 that was paid out in 2021 for compensation for loss of office that did not re-occur last year.

Pay to directors last year was made up of €273,069 in emoluments and €32,101 in pension payments.

The firm’s cost of sales last year reduced from €11.63 million to €11.11 million as distribution and promotion costs declined by 16pc from €993,780 to €726,297.

The firm’s administrative expenses reduced from €1.76 million to €1.47 million.

Other Irish artists signed up to Warner Music include Damien Rice, Gavin James and Enya.

The directors state that “net sales, operating income and profitability, like those of other companies in the music business, are largely affected by the number and quality of music that the company releases, the release schedule and more importantly, the consumer demands for these releases”.