Currency Media, the company behind the online journalism outlet, marginally increased its profit in the year to the end of September 2023 compared with the previous 12-month period, when it had recorded a profit of €301,466.
According to its chief executive and co-founder Tom Lyons, The Currency now has about 6,300 paying subscribers, up slightly in the last year.
“We have 80pc of members on an annual subscription, and our focus is on moving everyone to annual,” he said.
The company generated revenue of €1.44m in its last financial year, with a small events and advertising business also contributing to that.
Less than 10pc of the revenue came from advertising, according to Mr Lyons.
The Currency was founded in September 2019 by Mr Lyons and Ian Kehoe, a former editor of The Sunday Business Post who was a board member and deputy chair of RTÉ up to last October.
Thomas Hubert was appointed editor of The Currency last April, and it has a staff of nine.
Mr Lyons and Mr Kehoe, as directors, shared €188,000 in pay between them last year, up from €180,000 the year before, according to the accounts.
They also show that loans of €376,000, which are being repaid at an interest rate of 8pc, fall due for repayment on September 1.
However the accounts show that Currency Media Limited had €1.6m cash in the bank.
Mr Lyons said that its financial position has strengthened further in the first seven months of this financial year, and there is now about €2m cash in hand.
The Currency recently appointed Michael Cogley, previously a business journalist with the Irish Independent and Business Insider, as its London editor, which Mr Lyons described as “dipping our toe in a new market”.
He pointed out that London is the second biggest market, after Dublin, for The Currency, which could be partly accounted for by Irish business people commuting there.
The online-only publication tends to focus on longer interviews, commentary and features.
“It’s long-form quality journalism with a business focus,” Mr Lyons said.
“This is our fourth set of accounts and we have been profitable three years in a row.”
