Gordon Deegan
One of the country’s most popular artists, singer-songwriter Dermot Kennedy’s music firm last year enjoyed a fourfold increase in profits despite the impact of Covid-19 on the live music industry.
Buoyed by the success of hit tunes, ‘Giants’ and ‘Outnumbered’, the Dubliner’s company, Riggins Touring Ltd, enjoyed record profits of €469,347 in the 12 months to the end of June last.
The €469,347 profits for the year are almost a fourfold increase on the profits of €118,246 recorded in 2019.
At the end of June last, the company was sitting on accumulated profits of €546,091.
In the bumper year for the company, the firm’s cash pile more than doubled from €347,642 to €830,397.
Sell-out gigs
The profits for the company should have been even higher but for Kennedy having to postpone a series of sell-out gigs last June across the island of Ireland due to Covid-19.
The company will have recorded zero revenues from live concert performance due to Covid-19 in the company's current year which started on July 1st last.
The 29-year-old singer had planned to play seven gigs across Dublin, Killarney, Belfast and in Cork last June and those shows with an extra show added have been re-scheduled for this coming June.
Kennedy’s firm will be further boosted by a busy tour schedule of the UK and the US with the first date in Chicago at the end of July.
Kennedy is also down to play a gig at the Red Rocks amphitheatre in Colorado.
The staging of all gigs are subject to the ongoing Covid-19 situation in the various countries.
Covid impact
Covid-19 impacted the company’s business in the final four months of the financial year from the start March to the end of June last and the accounts refer to the Covid-19 impact.
The note states that “the company has continued to operate during this crisis, albeit at very restricted capacity due to the closure of live venues as a result of Government restrictions imposed in the majority of territories”.
The note adds that the directors "have carefully considered the impact of Covid-19 on the projected performance of the company for 2021 and 2022 and expect that management can meet the risks presented by this”.
Kennedy’s popularity last year reached new levels 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’.
