Catering group Kylemore has reported a sharp increase in profits last year and resumed paying dividends.

Kylemore Services Group (Dining), which operates a contract catering business alongside a group of 11 cafe restaurants, said pre-tax profit rose 43 per cent to €1.05 million in the year to the end of March last from €731,628 the previous year.

Turnover was 29 per cent up at €39.1 million.

A spokesman for Kylemore said it had increased its contract catering business during the year and now supplies 80 locations nationwide, up from 65 in 2011.

Ireland accounts for the bulk of the group’s business but it did see turnover at its UK operations nearly double to over €880,000.

A dividend of €1.25 million was paid to shareholders during the year, the company said. The business is 50 per cent owned by DCC Food Beverage, with the balance held by members of the Hogan family.

The business employed 733 people last year, up from 624 a year earlier, and 20 new jobs have been added since the end of the financial year at a new outlet in the Master Hospital.