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porn empire

Dublin-based firm collects €356 million in revenue from porn subscriptions

MG Billing Ireland Ltd provides the resale of membership subscriptions for certain porn websites.

A DUBLIN-BASED firm, which collects subscriptions from premium users of a global porn empire, has clocked up revenues of $427,170,000 (€356,790,000) over two years.

MG Billing Ireland Ltd is a subsidiary of Canadian firm Mindgeek that counts Pornhub, Youporn, Redtube and tube8 as some of its porn sites and clocked up average daily revenues of $585,000 (€488,374) each day in 2015 and 2014.

Mindgeek also operates gay porn sites including Sean Cody, Bromo and Reality Dudes.

Now, new accounts for the Mindgeek billing company, MG Billing Ireland Ltd show that pre-tax profits increased by 8.5% to $3,389,000 (€2,829,307) in 2015.

The company enjoyed the increase in profits as revenues jumped by 20% going from $193,380,000 in 2014 to $233,790,000 (€195,179,648) in 2015.

The principal activity of MG Billing is the resale of membership subscriptions for certain websites operated by companies under common control.

Satisfactory

The directors of MG Billing Ireland state that they consider the result for the year to be satisfactory.

They said that the company will continue to manage these revenues and the associated costs for other operating companies within the group.

The directors said it is the company’s policy to devote its resources to the growth of membership subscriptions.

The accounts show that in spite of the large revenues generated in 2015 of $233,790,000 (€195,179,648) the amount of corporation tax paid by the firm was only $145,301 (€121,302).

This was as a result of the comparatively low profits of $3,380,000 (€2,821,740) that arose from the high cost of sales of $229,480,000 (€191.577,794).

At the end of 2015, the company had accumulated profits of $10,380,000 (€8,665,795). The firm’s cash increased from $1,100,000 (€918,340) to $2,500,000 (€2,087,020).

Move from Ireland

MG Billing Ireland was one of a network of Mindgeek firms to set up here in 2013. The other companies are involved in operating websites and app sales.

However, the MG Billing Ireland Ltd accounts disclose that in February of this year, the firm relocated its control management and control functions from Ireland.

Another Mindgeek subsidiary to also file new accounts in recent days in MG Content RT Ltd which operates Mindgeek’s RedTube porn site.

The company recorded revenues of $27,000,000 (€22,539,817) in 2015 and recorded a pre-tax loss of $7,370,000 (€6,152,535) after incurring a non-cash impairment of goodwill of $7,900,000 (€6,594,048).

The directors state that they anticipate future profitability of RedTube operations.

Asked about MG Billing’s move to relocate the firm’s control management and function from Ireland and its impact on the firm’s jobs here, a spokeswoman for Mindgeek said yesterday:

As a privately held company, we do not disclose information regarding our business operations.

“In terms of our brands, MindGeek owns and operates a wide range of established banners across several niches.

“In the subscription based pay site model, we have Brazzers, Reality Kings, Digital Playground, Twistys, Babes, Men.com, Mofos, Sean Cody, Bromo, TransAngels and Reality Dudes. We also operate four streaming sites, Pornhub, Youporn,  Redtube, and tube8.”

Read: Greyhound says it wants garda protection for waste collection crews in parts of Dublin

More: ‘It’s ignorance’: Sinn Féin calls for apology after junior minister blames party for Dublin-Monaghan bombing

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