It is now 30 years since Riverdance made its debut at the Eurovision Song Contest as the interval act during the 1994 contest in Dublin.
New accounts show that across the world, Riverdance’s appeal in 2023 increased as revenues at Abhann Productions went up by 19pc from €14.01m to €16.72m in the 12 months to the end of last June.
The 2023 revenues were boosted by Riverdance performing a 50-date tour of the US last year.
Emphasising Riverdance’s global appeal, one Riverdance dancing troupe is performing in the Japanese city of Osaka this weekend after a nine-year gap from Japan.
Last month, Riverdance performed a string of dates around Australia while next month, the show returns to Dublin’s Gaiety Theatre for a run from June 5 until September 8.
The new filings show that interest payments of €53,315 last year resulted in a pre-tax profit of €2.08m, up 3pc on €2.01m in 2022.
The strong profits of 2023 and 2022 follow Covid-related losses of €1.097m in 2021 and €747,465 in 2020 as a result of the pandemic shutting down the show from March 2020 to September 2021.
The company continues to be led by founding directors John McColgan and Moya Doherty and in their report, they state that they “are satisfied that the results for the year are consistent with expected levels”.
David Orr is also listed as a director, and aggregate pay to directors increased by 34pc from €1.35m to €1.8m.
Mr McColgan and Ms Doherty continued to plough money into the venture last year, with the amount owed by the company to the couple last year increasing sharply from €154,157 to €1m.
Riverdance usually has two productions touring simultaneously, each employing 50 to 55 across cast and crew.
Revenues were also boosted last year by Riverdance performing its 25th-anniversary show at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin from June 15 to September 10.
Wages and salaries last year totalled €2.45m.
The firm’s cash funds increased sharply from €3.09m to €5.34m.
Accumulated profits at the end of last June stood at €3.94m.
The profit also took account of non-cash depreciation costs of €33,532.
