Acquisition costs drive $23m loss at Irish antenna firm Taoglas

Enniscorthy-based Taoglas, which makes and designs antennas and cellular components, reported a $23 million (€21.81 million) loss for 2023 in the first set of results since a US private equity firm acquired the Irish company early last year.
New accounts for Taoglas Buyer, a new entity that was formed when a majority stake in the group was sold to Graham Partners, reveal that turnover at the dual Irish-US headquartered group’s Irish entity reached $52.2 million in the 12 months to the end of December last.
Led by co-founder Dermot O’Shea, who retained a stake in the business following its sale, Taoglas’s US and global revenue figures have not been disclosed. However, the wider group was “operationally profitable” last year, a company spokesman said, having expanded into new regions and opened an office in India in 2023.
The $23 million before-tax loss related to expenditure arising from Graham Partners’s acquisition of the firm, which was announced in February 2023, a spokesman said. Those costs included interest, transaction and management fees.
Mr O’Shea said Taoglas performed well “despite difficult market conditions” last year.
“We believe that Taoglas is very well placed to benefit from the continued adoption of connected devices worldwide and we see significant potential across mobility and infrastructure in this regard,” he said, adding that 2024 marks “20 years in business for Taoglas”, having commenced trading in 2004 in Wexford. The company employed some 386 people across its facilities in Ireland, China, Taiwan, Germany and the US, according to the accounts.
Meanwhile, Taoglas spent $4.4 million on research and development last year, reporting total net cash use of $17.7 million in the year, which the spokesman said was “primarily driven by the operational structure with the US group”.