Covid storm sees NI cruise ship fit-out firm’s sales drop 75%
A Northern Ireland firm which fits-out cruise ships saw its turnover collapse by nearly 75% in the first year of the pandemic.
MJM Group’s sales in 2020 stood at £32m compared to £117m in 2019.
The Newry-based company said 95% of its 2020 turnover came in the first quarter of the year, before the full effect of the pandemic was felt.
Despite the huge sales drop, the company still made a pre-tax profit of almost £7m, compared to a profit of almost £18m in 2019.
Like many others, the firm was able to use the furlough scheme and made 167 workers redundant, a move it said was “necessary in order to secure the future of the business”.
Its annual accounts describe how the months before the pandemic were among the busiest in the company’s history.
The directors noted that at the end of 2020, the business was “in a strong cash position” and had adequate resources to trade as a going concern for the foreseeable future.
The cruise industry was one of the sectors worst hit by Covid-related shutdowns in 2020.
The industry’s largest company, US giant Carnival, reported losses of $10bn (£7.4bn) in 2020 after revenues fell 73% during the pandemic.
