Pallas Foods, the food wholesaler and distributor, racked up a net loss of almost €3.2m for its 2019 financial year, according to new accounts filed by the company. The accounts show that Pallas reported operating losses of €1.7m for 2019, which was a significant decline on the €14.3m operating profit made a year earlier.

The main reason for the sharp losses appears to be a €7.9m impairment charge, as well as a significant increase in the company’s administrative expenses.

The accounts show that Pallas was forced to take a €7.9m impairment charge following the closure of its warehouse in Newcastle West, Co Limerick and the centralisation of its warehousing operations to its new state-of-the-art €40m distribution centre in north Dublin.

Overall, Pallas reported turnover of €383m, which was up 6% year-on-year. Almost 90% of the company’s sales are in Ireland, with the remainder coming from Northern Ireland and a small amount from the UK market.

Founded in the 1980s by Tim Geary, Pallas is now the country’s largest food distributor, employing about 1,200 people.