MJM Group: Cruise fitter's turnover down 75% due to pandemic

MJM Group has a track record in cruise ship work

A Newry firm, which specialises in fitting-out cruise ships, saw its turnover collapse by nearly 75% in the first year of the pandemic.

In 2019, sales at MJM Group were £117m but fell in 2020 to £32m as cruise lines postponed contracts.

MJM said 95% of its 2020 turnover came in quarter one of the year, before the full effect of the pandemic was felt.

Despite the drop in sales, the company still made a pre-tax profit of almost £7m.

That compared to a profit of almost £18m in 2019.

'One of worst-hit industries'

The firm was able to use the furlough scheme and also made 167 workers redundant.

It said the redundancies were "necessary in order to secure the future of the business".

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Its annual accounts describe how the months before the pandemic were among the busiest in the company's history.

The directors noted that at the end of 2020, the business was "in a strong cash position" and had adequate resources to trade as a going concern for the foreseeable future.

The cruise industry was one of the sectors worst hit by Covid-related shutdowns in 2020.

The industry's largest company, US giant Carnival, reported losses of $10bn (£7.4bn) in 2020 after revenues fell 73% during the pandemic.