Giraffe Childcare, Ireland’s biggest childcare group, greatly expanded its profit margins during the Covid-19 pandemic, as it received financial assistance from the Government exceeding €19 million over a three-year period, latest financial reports disclose. The childcare organisation, with 24 centres across Dublin, Meath, and Kildare, received Covid funding totalling €6.67 million, €10.54 million, and €2.07 million across 2020, 2021, and 2022, as per the documents submitted recently to the Companies Registration Office (CRO).
The reports unveil that by the conclusion of 2022, the childcare group’s proprietor, a Canadian pension fund’s investment branch, was endowed with amassed profits of €19.6 million, a huge leap from a meagre €1.4 million at 2019’s end. Prior to the initial emergence of Covid-19 in Ireland in early 2020, Giraffe was already reaping benefits. In 2019, the year immediately before the pandemic took hold, operating profits of the childcare group peaked at €2.7 million on the back of €21.8 million garnered from childcare fees.
Despite child care service closures during intervals within the year which reduced the annual revenue to €14.4 million, the year 2020 saw Giraffe Childcare’s operating profits inflate from the previous year’s €2.7 million to nearly €3.4 million, primarily enriched by the nearly €6.7 million originating from State funding. Another considerable expense in 2020 was close to €1.7 million paid out to shareholders as dividends.
According to recent filings, the group’s trading revenues in 2021 slightly surpassed the revenues prior to the pandemic, while pre-tax earnings climbed to nearly €13.5 million due largely to the €10.54 million received that year as a part of Covid relief, indicating a 500% rise from the pre-Covid year of 2019. In 2022, further governmental aids were provided to Giraffe amounting to €2.07 million, raising the total grants received during the pandemic to over €19 million.
In response to queries about repaying government grants despite their profitability, a representative from Giraffe Childcare stated that the firm, same as other childcare providers, encountered unparalleled issues during the pandemic. The firm made a strenuous effort to remain operational, help working families, and maintain the employment of 550 highly qualified staff members.
The representative expressed their gratitude towards the government for the support extended during the problematic phase. Post-pandemic, significant financial contributions towards the childcare sector were made by the company, having opened four new centres and aiming at additional growth in 2025.
Regarding the company’s latest filings, inclusive of financial years 2021 and 2022, these are obsolete as the company failed to meet the legal filing deadlines. The CRO granted the company an extension for filing accounts during the pandemic, as part of a leniency period on penalties for late filing. The further delays are yet to be clarified, though it is believed that an organisational error led to these additional delays.
The Department of Children repudiated commenting on specific scenarios. One department representative stated that audit verifications were conducted for Covid grants given to the early-learning and childcare sectors, hence safeguarding exchequer financing.
Giraffe Childcare, established in 2001 by Mary Ann McCormack, became a subsidiary of the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund in 2019. The firm was reportedly purchased for a sum around €30 million.