Co-producer of Banshees of Inisherin receives €11.6m in corporation tax credits
The co-production credits of Metropolitan Films International Ltd include Banshees of Inisherin starring Colin Farrell (pictured), Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon.
The co-producer of the multi-Oscar nominated and Netflix's Viking drama last year received €11.6m in movie and TV corporation tax credits from the revenue commissioner.
Metropolitan Films International Ltd and subsidiaries is the largest operator in the co-production of movies here.
New accounts show that the €11.6m the Co Wicklow-based production group received in Section 481 tax credits in the 12 months to the end of April 2024 is down 66% on the €34.5m received in tax credits in the prior year.
The group’s revenues more than halved from €94.2m to €40.2m last year. The directors state that turnover has declined by 57.3% compared to 2023 “due to a higher number of productions completed during 2023”.
The directors said that they “expect turnover to increase in the next 12 months as the group are currently involved in a higher number of productions”.
The principal activity of the group is that of producing feature films and television series in Ireland, primarily by way of co-production of incoming European and international studio projects.
With the reduction in productions last year, numbers employed across the group reduced from 448 to 258 and all but three of these employees were employed directly by the production company subsidiaries.
A note states that “the nature of the group's trade resulted in the majority of employees being contracted for a condensed period. Therefore a significantly higher number of employees than the average reported were employed by the Group”.
The group’s co-production credits include starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon.
Staff costs last year more than halved from €31.87m to €15.05m. The group’s overall production expenses declined by 60% from €127.4m to €50.59m resulting in a gross profit of €1.2m. Administrative expenses of €1.127m contributed to the group recording a modest pre-tax profit of €88,403.
Metropolitan Films International Ltd has appealed to the Labour Court a large number of Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) decisions issued in December 2023 which awarded a cumulative total of €434,216 to a group of Irish Film Workers Association (IFWA) members.
The company has been successful in all appeals determined to date and the IFWA is seeking judicial review applications in the High Court concerning a number of the Labour Court rulings.
The accounts - signed off on March 27 by directors, Morgan O’Sullivan and Juanita Wilson - show that the cash funds last year decreased sharply from €23.1m to €5.1m.
The revenue commissioners confirmed in January that the value of overall payments made under the Section 481 film corporation tax credit scheme in 2024 was €121.63m.
