HORSE Sport Ireland’s (HSI) newly filed accounts for 2023 show a modest profit of €11,469, compared to a loss of €100,351 in the previous year.

After two years of losses, HSI CEO Denis Duggan said he expects the national governing body to “move more firmly into surplus for 2024 following an improvement in the organisation’s finances this year,” adding the 2023 accounts have been “helped by tight control on costs during the year”. HSI draws its income from a combination of commercial activities and grant aid, reinvesting any profits back into the horse sport industry.

Revenue at HSI declined from €9.94 million to €8.78 million last year, as operating income reduced from €1.98 million to €1.59 million, while income from grants declined from €7.95 million to €7.19 million due to the ending of Covid support. Administrative expenses were reduced by 9% from €2.69 million to €2.44 million.

Staff costs

HSI employed an average of 49 staff in 2023, compared to 42 staff the previous year. During the year the organisation paid €40,923 (€217,000 in 2022) in relation to settlement agreements. Legal costs decreased by 30% last year to €175,189.

Staff costs (wages and salaries, social insurance costs and cost of defined contribution scheme) rose slightly to €2.56 million (€2,187,486 in 2022). In addition, there was €28,800 spent on directors’ remuneration (€84,337 in 2022) and another €480,154 (€579,359 in 2022) on key management compensation (senior management and directors), taking the total to €3.075 million.

The cost spent on travel in 2023 was down from €139,586 to €78,456 while there was €6,544 dedicated to wellness and hospitality.

Net assets

At the end of last year, Horse Sport Ireland had net assets of €86,425. The Directors’ Report noted that the Directors expressed “significant concerns about the fragile state of the balance sheet,” as the organisation had “limited working capital and liquidity challenges”.

The Directors noted that the business had “worked hard to reduce expenditure with reduced revenue” and that this had resulted in a profit being achieved for 2023. HSI is almost entirely dependent on grant aid and the timing of this revenue, and the recovery nature of grant disbursements creates a significant challenge for the business, the Directors’ Report added.

It noted that there was a need for strategies to strengthen HSI’s financial position to ensure the long-term sustainability and viability of the business as a going concern. The Directors added that it was appropriate to prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.

Horse Sport Ireland is “actively managing prevailing uncertainties in relation to future funding and has put in place a risk management procedure based on a number of funding scenarios”.

A new online e-passporting solution, Horse Source, was launched earlier this year with the aim of making horse registration easier and more efficient for breeders. A DAFM grant for €618,488 was listed for e-passports in the 2023 accounts.

Structure

Three new Directors - Dr Siobhan McAuliffe, Sue Foley and Allison Mercer - were appointed to the Horse Sport Ireland Board in July, following a major reform of the organisation’s structure.

The process involved a reform of the previous Advisory Councils to create four new Advisory Forums, whereby 54 organisations representing affiliates and industry stakeholders were invited to provide representatives, filling 80 seats. Those representatives then selected one female candidate and a second candidate of either gender, to be go forward for the role of HSI Director. An independent nominations panel interviewed the candidates and selected the new Directors. There was no appointment made to the High Performance Sport Advisory Forum following an ongoing fallout between HSI and a number of the affiliate bodies.