Sales by Christy Moore and The Script help revenues at Irish arm of Sony rise 5% to €17.34m
Updated / Monday, 9 Feb 2026 11:50
Music sales by Irish acts such as The Script, Christy Moore, Damien Dempsey and Gavin James last year contributed to revenues at the Irish arm of music giant, Sony Music rising by 5% to €17.34m.
New accounts show that despite the rise in revenues, operating profits at Sony Music Entertainment Ireland Ltd decreased by 62% from €807,000 to €307,000.
The company’s pre-tax profits declined by 40% from €1.78m to €1.07m after the company benefited from interest income of €767,000 compared to €974,000 under the same heading in 2024.
Revenues increased by €765,000 from €16.58m to €17.34m.
The company recorded the drop in profits as its costs of sales rose by 9% from €12.54m to €13.68m in the 12 months to the end of March last.
The directors state that they are confident that Sony Music Entertainment Ireland Ltd will continue to deliver strong results in a challenging market through a strong release schedule, aligning its business model to the changing market and controlling costs effectively.
On the risks facing the company, the directors state that the company considers the key risks to be physical market decline, uncertainty over the long term growth of the streaming market in addition to the strength of the release schedule.
Other Sony artists include Beyonce, Adele, Calvin Harris, Bruce Springsteen and the late George Michael.
The directors of Sony Music Entertainment Ireland are listed as Annette Buckley, Michael Smith and Ross Timmons and aggregate pay to directors increased from €553,000 to €565,000 made up €529,000 in pay and €36,000 in pension payments.
The numbers employed at Sony Music Entertainment Ireland last year increased by one to 14 with seven employed in marketing and promotion, four in sales, business development and digital analytics, two in management and one in administration.
Staff costs at the firm last year increased from €1.74m to €1.84m. Along with the rise in the company’s cost of sales, the firm’s administrative expenses increased slightly from €3.22m to €3.34m.
The firm recorded a post tax profit of €839,000 after paying corporation tax of €235,000.
At the end of March last, shareholder funds at the firm totalled €23.88m and this was made up of €11.73m in accumulated profits and a share premium of €12.14m.
Cash funds decreased from €837,000 to €808,000.
Separate accounts for Sony Music’s UK arm show that its pre-tax profits last year increased by 59% to £115.77m in the 12 months to the end of March last.
This followed revenues at Sony Music Entertainment UK Ltd increasing by 7% from £340.67m to £363.2m.
The firm paid dividends of £215m in dividends to parent firm, Sony Music Entertainment UK Holdings Ltd during the year.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
