Fivemiletown business records £106 million turnover

A CLOTHING manufacturer based in Fivemiletown has recorded a massive turnover of £106 million in the last year.
Cooneen by Design, who supply clothes for top brands and the armed forces, released their annual accounts last month.
The company, which was established in 1966, has their head office registered in Antrim, however their primary factory remains in the Tyrone town.
They produce clothing for retailers such as John Lewis, Matalan, Next and Asda, alongside uniforms for the military, police forces and airliners.
According to the report, their profit after tax for the year was £7.5m, with the group’s net assets recorded as £94m, up from £86.6m in the previous year.
The cost of sales had risen by £2m to a total of £85m, while the company was holding stock amounting to £24m at the end of the financial year.
In a strategic report, the group directors said, “The group operates in a difficult market and manages this risk by providing innovative products at competitive prices, meeting and exceeding the customer requirements and developing strong customer relationships.
“Business activities are conducted in multi currencies and management use foreign exchange hedging with forward contracts to mitigate the risk.
“The group performs credit checks on new and existing customers and robust internal control procedures minimise exposure to credit risks.”
They added, “an adequate charge has been made to reflect the possibility of stocks being sold at less than cost, however, this estimate is subject to inherent uncertainty”.
“Market conditions have been very competitive and will continue to remain so in the current year. The directors aim to maintain market share and continue to meet its customer requirements.”
Directors’ pay and pension costs came to £674,483, with the highest-paid director on £419,764 compared to £386,598 last year.
The report said the company had continued its policy of investing in research and development throughout the financial year.