*Element Six.
PRE-TAX profits at the Irish arm of industrial diamond manufacturer, Element Six more than halved to $5.58m (€4.79m) last year.
New accounts for the Shannon based Element Six Ltd show that profits declined as revenues reduced by 11 percent from $191.57m to $169.95m.
The directors state that “uncertainties in global markets and macro-headwinds particularly in the global automotive sector” resulted in the drop in revenues during the year.
They state that “investment in research and development, new technology and a focus on continuous improvement in production processes has helped the company to navigate these economic uncertainties and set the company on a solid financial platform to support future growth”.
The company last year paid out dividends of $10m which followed a $10m dividend payout in 2023.
Operating profits last year plummeted by 87 percent from $4.32m to $560,000 and the company benefited from dividends received of $3.26m, interest received of $2.55m offset by finance expenses of $797,000 to result in the pre-tax profit of $5.58m.
The company recorded post tax profits of $4.86m after incurring a $723,000 corporation tax charge.
Numbers employed last year declined from 431 to 413 that included 190 agency workers.
The 223 directly employed workers made up of 107 in production, 67 in finance and administration, 27 in engineering and 22 in sales and marketing.
Total staff costs including the cost of agency workers last year reduced from $34.32m to $31.34m that included $27.77m in wages and salaries.
The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation and amortisation costs of $5.98m.
The company’s R&D spend last year totalled $6.94m compared to $8.6m in 2023.
The profit also took account of a $1.13m write down in stock offset by a $604,000 gain in foreign exchange gains.
Aggregate pay to directors last year totalled $910,00 which is down from $1.25m paid out in 2023.
The principal activity of the company is the manufacture and sale of industrial diamond and related products.
Element Six Limited supplies products all over the world and the markets mainly served with industrial diamond and related products are the United States of America, China, Japan and all countries within the European Union.
The directors state that the principal risks and uncertainties include low-cost competition from Eastern European and Asian suppliers, commodity price, global tariffs uncertainties, fluctuations impacting consumer demand and fluctuating currency exchange rates.
At the end of December last year, the firm had shareholder funds of $120.87m that included accumulated profits of $106.09m.
On the impact of the Trump tariffs, a note to the accounts signed on April 23rd states that effective 05 April 2025, the United States imposed a minimum 10% tariff on imports from all countries.
It states that “as an importer into the United States, the company is actively monitoring and responding to opportunities and risks presenting themselves from this announcement, however it is currently too early to predict the impact on the company”.
