'Better Days' for Dermot Kennedy as profits hit €4.5m following bumper Limerick crowds
Gordon Deegan
The main entertainment firm owned by one of the country's most popular artists, singer song-writer Dermot Kennedy, is enjoying “Better Days” as its accumulated profits last year almost doubled to €4.5 million.
Boosted by crowds of more than 100,000 at three sell out gigs at Thomond Park in Limerick in July 2023, new accounts show that Kennedy’s Riggins Recording Ltd enjoyed record profits of €2.2m in the 12 months to the end of June last year.
The accounts cover the period of July 2023 when Kennedy packed the Thomond Park venue which followed two sell out gigs at Marlay Park in Dublin and a show stopping performance at Glastonbury in June 2023.
The post tax profits of €2.2m last year follow post tax profits of €1.13m in fiscal 2023.
Best known for hit tunes such as ‘Giants’, ‘Paradise’, ‘Better Days’ and ‘Outnumbered’, Kennedy is set to add to his company’s coffers where he appears as a Special Guest at two Hyde Park Zach Bryan concerts in London in June.
Kennedy’s firm, Riggins Recordings Ltd enjoyed a stellar 2023/2024 after releasing his second studio album, Sonder in November 2022.
Underlining the company’s buoyant fiscal 2024, the accounts show that the company’s cash funds more than doubled rising from €1.64m to €3.74m while monies owed to the firm by debtors rose from €785,130 to €1m.
The accounts show that director's pay totalled €302,250 made up of €250,000 in pension contributions and €52,250 in remuneration.
At the end of June 2024, the company’s shareholder funds totalled €12.4m that included €7.89m from a share premium account which arose on the issue of shares in the prior year.
This relates to intangible assets valued at €7.9m.
Signed off on March 21st by the 34 year old Dermot Kennedy, the accounts show that the company’s unlisted investments are valued at €1.24m. Numbers employed by the company was two.
Kennedy’s popularity has reached new levels following his initial break-through when he took the No1 slot in both the Official Irish singles and album charts with ‘Giants’ and ‘Without Fear’.
Since the release of his 2017 EP ‘Doves and Ravens, Dermot Kennedy’s career has gone from strength to strength.
Kennedy’s debut album, Without Fear achieved multi-platinum status with top 10 single, ‘Outnumbered’ as well as hit tunes, ‘Power Over Me’ and Giants’.
Kennedy has won the RTÉ Choice Music Prize Irish Song of the year for 2021 for his song, ‘Better Days’.