A €900,000 write-down in the value of stock left DIY and builders' merchants group Dublin Providers Ltd (DPL) with a €2.3 million loss last year, the latest figures show.

Returns filed by the nationwide group show sales in 2013 dipped 2.4 per cent to €40 million from €41 million the previous year.

Its operations lost €1.2 million last year, almost twice the €645,000 it recorded in 2012, mainly on the back of increased costs. The figures show the group wrote €922,000 off the value of stock it held and also lost close to €8,000 on the sale of some assets.

Combined with a €217,000 interest bill, those losses left it with an overall pretax deficit for 2013 of €2.36 million, a 175 per cent increase on €875,274 it lost the previous year.

Company chairman Jeremiah Maher and managing director John Peare state in the directors' report that 2013's results were influenced by the stabilisation of activity in the building industry and growth in the repair and DIY markets.

DPL’s balance sheet remained strong. Net assets were €30.4 million on December 31st, down from €32.7 million 12 months earlier.

Short-term debt, due within a year, was €14.9 million, slightly lower than the €15.5 million reported a year earlier. The largest element of that was €10.3 million due to suppliers. It owed its banks €3.6 million.

The group cut its workforce to 164 from 182. Directors received a total of €290,000 in 2013.