Strong growth in online sales and a rise in demand for vaccination services contributed to the Irish arm of pharmacy giant, Boots enjoying record revenues of €580.76m last year.
New accounts filed by Boots Retail (Ireland) Ltd show that on the back of the record revenues, pre-tax profits increased by 3% to €37.8m.
In the 12 months to the end of August last, revenues surged by €51m or 10% from €529.63m to €580.76m.
The pre-tax profits of €37.8m follow pre-tax profits of €36.56m in fiscal 2023.
The company opened one new outlet during the year bringing the store network to 95.
During the year, the company paid out dividends of €29m after paying out a dividend of €48.2m in 2023.
The directors state that retail revenues made up 87.4% of total revenues with pharmacy revenues making up the remaining 12.6%.
Comparable retail revenues increased by 7.2% “as a result of strong growth in online sales”.
They state that pharmacy revenues increased by 10.2% “mainly due to volume growth in relation to Government schemes and service growth due to the rise in demand for vaccination services”.
The directors state that the company’s business is affected by a number of factors including its sales performance during holiday periods, including particularly the winter holiday season, and during the cough, cold and flu season.
Other factors include significant weather conditions, the timing of its own or competitor discount programmes and pricing actions and the timing of changes in levels of reimbursement from governmental agencies.
The firm recorded a post tax profit of €31.46m after the company incurred a corporation tax charge of €6.34m.
Numbers employed increased from 1,630 to 1,668 as staff costs increased from €72.29 million to €77.24m.
The profits take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €25m and non-cash impairment charges of €2.36m.
Remuneration paid to directors last year increased marginally from €1.04m to €1.05m and the highest paid director received €491,000 made up of €352,000 in pay, €103,000 under long term incentive schemes and €36,000 in pension contributions.
The higher post tax profits offset by the dividend payout resulted in shareholder funds increasing from €132.92m to €134.46m that included accumulated profits of €31.46m.
Cash funds increased from €5.3m to €6.9m. On the risks facing the business, the directors state that “the impact of the current global cost pressures has resulted in high inflation rates in the Republic of Ireland and globally, and this has been exacerbated by the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
The directors state that “these factors have contributed to a cost of living crisis within the Republic of Ireland which could impact various stakeholders as well as the business”.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
