A.b. Distributors Limited
Registered name: A.B. DISTRIBUTORS LIMITED
Part of Gowan Investments Limited groupA.b. Distributors Limited made £6.4m revenue and £158k profit in the year to 31 Dec 2025.
A.b. Distributors Limited’s revenue fell 14% to £6.4m in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with £158k profit and 9 employees. The company is classified under “wholesale of radio, television goods & electrical household appliances (other than records, tapes, cd's & video tapes and the equipment used for playing them)” and is based in Belfast; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.
- Status
- Active
- Location
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Age
- 55 yrs · since 1971
- Type
- Private Limited Company
Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently. From the filing: “Gowan Investments Limited”
Key figures
Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.
Financial history
| Year to | 31 Dec 2022 | 31 Dec 2023 | 31 Dec 2024 | 31 Dec 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disclosure | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L | Full P&L |
| Profit & loss | ||||
| Revenue (turnover) | £7.1m | £8.7m | £7.4m | £6.4m |
| Cost of sales | £5.2m | £6.6m | £5.5m | £4.7m |
| Gross profit | £1.9m | £2.1m | £1.8m | £1.6m |
| Operating profit | £272k | £247k | £181k | £182k |
| Profit before tax | £275k | £260k | £192k | £200k |
| Profit after tax | £529k | £192k | £144k | £158k |
| Profit (best available) | £529k | £192k | £144k | £158k |
| Employees (average) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 |
| Ratios | ||||
| Profit margin | 7.4% | 2.2% | 1.9% | 2.5% |
| Gross margin | 27% | 24.5% | 24.7% | 25.4% |
| Revenue per employee | £648k | £791k | £669k | £707k |
| Profit per employee | £48.1k | £17.4k | £13.1k | £17.5k |
| Growth (year on year) | ||||
| Revenue growth | — | ▲22.1% | ▼15.4% | ▼13.6% |
| Profit growth | — | ▼63.7% | ▼25.2% | ▲9.8% |
| Headcount growth | — | 0% | 0% | ▼18.2% |
| Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue | ||||
| Cash at bank | £2.2m | £1.3m | £872k | £3.7m |
| Net assets | £2.3m | £2.5m | £2.7m | £2.8m |
| Fixed assets | £57.5k | £36.2k | £53k | £125k |
| Current assets | £3.6m | £4m | £3.9m | £4.5m |
| Debtors | £1m | £1.1m | £1m | £666k |
| Deferred income | £784k | £872k | £811k | £738k |
| Source | Accounts · bulk data Aug 2024 | Accounts · bulk data Aug 2024 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025 | FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2026 |
How the business works
- Profit margin
- 2.5%
- Profit ÷ revenue.
- Gross margin
- 25.4%
- Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
- Revenue per employee
- £707k
- Revenue ÷ average employees.
- Profit per employee
- £17.5k
- Profit ÷ average employees.
- Cash conversion
- —
- Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
- Fixed assets ÷ revenue
- 2%
- Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
- Deferred income ÷ revenue
- 11.6%
- Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
- Debtors ÷ revenue
- 10.5%
- Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.
Balance-sheet signals
Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.
- Net assets
- ▲6%
- Now £2.8m
- Cash at bank
- ▲322%
- Now £3.7m
- Headcount
- ▼18%
- Now 9
- Deferred income
- ▼9%
- Now £738k
- Fixed assets
- ▲135%
- Now £125k
Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.
Group structure
Ownership chain
- Gowan Investments Limitedultimate parent75–100%
- A.b. Distributors Limitedthis company
Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.
From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).
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Sources
Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit £158k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Sep 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.
Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.