Coillte announces EBITDA of €62m for 2024 against a background of challenging market conditions
- Storm Éowyn in January 2025 caused unprecedented levels of damage to the Coillte estate at an estimated financial cost in excess of €60m
- Of the over 26,000 hectares of Ireland’s forests with windblow damage, 14,500 hectares are Coillte managed – over twice Coillte’s annual harvest area
- Inflationary pressures and lower end-market demand resulting in lower prices in 2024 led to significant declines in EBITDA and operating cash to €62m and €9m respectively
- Company remains focused on delivering on its forestry strategic vision and the multiple benefits of forests for climate, nature, wood and people.
Friday, 2nd May 2025: Coillte today announced its financial and operational performance for 2024. Following a second consecutive year of highly challenging market conditions, impacted by inflationary pressures and lower end-market demand resulting in lower prices, the company’s EBITDA of €62m and Operating Cash of €9m were down significantly on the prior year.
Cumulative dividends of €2.9m were paid in respect of 2024 to the State, comprising an interim dividend of €1.4m, and a final dividend of €1.5m which was paid subsequent to year end.
Coillte’s ongoing challenging market conditions have been further exacerbated by the dramatic impact of Storm Éowyn which hit Ireland in January 2025. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and Coillte estimate that the total area of windblown damage to forests in Ireland is over 26,000 hectares, of which 14,500 hectares are managed by Coillte. This equates to over twice the company’s annual harvest area. The financial cost to Coillte to deal with the storm damage is currently estimated to be in excess of €60m, with this estimate based on a range of assumptions and challenges associated with the efficient mobilising of windblow material, harvesting, haulage, and clean-up costs. Coillte has made significant progress in its windblow response and is targeting to have the majority of its windblow ‘clean-up’ completed by end 2026.
Approximately 3 million m3 of sustainable wood is produced by Coillte’s harvesting operations each year which is used in the construction of houses, for fencing and decking, for pallets to transport goods around the world and to produce MDF to make furniture and OSB used in construction.
Coillte’s continued commitment to biodiversity is evidenced by the fact that the company is on target to increase the area of its estate managed primarily for nature from 20% (90,000 hectares) to 30% (134,000 hectares) by the end of 2025 with more than an additional 30,000 hectares of the estate classified by ecologists as having significant biodiversity value in 2024.
In May 2024, the first fully operational FuturEnergy Ireland onshore wind farm (Coillte’s joint venture with ESB) was officially launched at Lenalea, Co. Donegal, as part of a joint venture with SSE Renewables. This 30MW windfarm is expected to support Ireland’s 2030 renewable energy targets and assist in security of supply. To date, Coillte has had a role in enabling over 50% of Ireland’s onshore wind energy generation.
COILLTE 2024 FINANCIAL/OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- Revenue of €390m, down from €414m in 2023
- EBITDA of €62m, down from €106m in 2023
- Operating profit of €19m, down from €61m in 2023
- Dividend to State in respect of 2024 was €2.9m
- Approx. 3 million m3 of sustainable wood produced annually
- First FuturEnergy Ireland windfarm fully operational
Commenting on the results the Chair of Coillte, Vivienne Jupp, said: “2024 was a year focused on optimising financial delivery against the backdrop of challenging market conditions and continuous cost management, and on significantly progressing our forestry strategic vision ambitions to 2050. As we entered 2025, we were confronted by the stark reality of the impact of Storm Éowyn. Productive forests, biodiversity areas and recreation trails and parks across the Coillte estate have been extensively impacted. At this stage we estimate that the financial impact on Coillte of this storm damage will be in excess of €60m.
“Against this backdrop Coillte is participating in the Forest Windblow Taskforce which was established by Ministers Martin Heydon and Michael Healy-Rae. Coillte is now focused on engaging with the Government and the sector to navigate the many challenges which this scale of windblow creates. It is clear that this is a very challenging time for Ireland’s forestry sector and that the recovery operation will take considerable time.
“Through 2025, we will continue to focus on delivering on the objectives of our future forestry strategic vision while continuing to carefully manage our cost base.”
Coillte’s Chief Executive, Imelda Hurley, said: “Despite challenging market conditions in 2024, we made good progress on our forestry strategic vision ambitions. These ambitions see us focused between now and 2050 on creating new forests, managing our existing forests for greater carbon capture, redesigning 30,000 ha of peatland forests for climate and ecological benefits, enhancing and restoring biodiversity, and increasing the number of recreational spaces across Ireland for people to enjoy. In addition, these ambitions see us focused on continuing to deliver sustainable Irish wood and wood-based products which support the decarbonisation of our built environment, and on promoting the use of wood in the delivery of new homes.
“While the full financial impacts of Storm Éowyn are still being assessed, our day-to-day focus is on mobilising supply chains to ensure the windblown material is harvested and brought to market as quickly as possible and on continuing to deliver the multiple benefits of forests for climate, nature, wood and people.”
Coillte’s 2024 Annual Report and Full Financial Statements are avilable here
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