The firm which operates the Penneys chain of outlets here last year recorded daily average pre-tax profits of almost €4m.
New accounts lodged by Primark Ltd show that the company’s pre-tax profits increased by 59% to €1.4 billion in the 12 months to the end of September 13 last on the back of €560m received in dividends from subsidiaries.
The pre-tax profits equate to an average daily pre-tax profit of €3.84m that also includes the performance of Primark’s Primark Way franchise, Primark’s intellectual property and services to Primark’s overseas businesses along with its retail network here.
However, unseasonably warm weather in the first half of the financial year impacted revenues at Penneys’ Irish store network as trading revenues for the year dipped by 1.6% from €741.7m to €729.6m.
The €729.6m in revenues for the 52 weeks work out at the average weekly revenues of €14m for the 38 unit Irish strong network of Penneys stores.
The directors state that “Irish stores trading performance declined in the current year. Trade in the first half of the year was impacted by unseasonably warm weather”.
“Ongoing increases in the cost of living in the areas of food, utilities and services have also reduced customers’ disposable income, further impacting overall sales. Trade was stronger in the second half of the year,” the directors add.
A spokeswoman for Primark said today “FY24/25 was a year of continued investment for Primark in Ireland. We invested more than €13.5m in Penneys stores across the country, refurbishing stores in Kerry, Dublin and Limerick, while making further progress on our €250m investment programme.
“Trading in the first half of the year was weaker as consumers continued to face a challenging economic environment, but improved strongly in the second half. Customers responded well to our product offer, particularly in womenswear and everyday essentials,” she added.
Penneys here employs over 5,500 in its stores across Ireland and an additional 1,400 in its global headquarters in Dublin.
Overall revenues at Primark Ltd last year increased marginally from €4.1 billion to €4.19 billion and the revenues were made up of €2.15 billion of revenues from intercompany supplies of inventory; Primark Way franchise income of €1.3 billion and the remaining €729.58m from Irish retail revenues.
The Primark Way franchise is a business format which is developed and run from Ireland and provides Primark intellectual property, know-how and services to Primark businesses overseas.
“Overall FY24/25 was a year of continued growth for Primark through sustained investment in expanding and renovating our store estate, and improving our customer offering in Ireland, Europe and the US,” the Primark spokeswoman said.
“We also announced our first franchise partnership with the Alshaya group in the Middle East and expanded our Click + Collect service to all GB stores as well,” she added.
The company recorded a post tax profit of €1.279 billion after incurring a corporation tax charge of €123.95m.
The firm paid a dividend of €600m last year and in a post balance sheet event in December 2025 declared and paid a further dividend of €450m.
Primark opened its first store in Dublin in 1969 under the Penneys name and today the group has over 495 stores across 19 markets and employs 80,000 people globally.
The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €102.5m and non-cash amortisation costs of €48.7m.
Numbers employed by the firm last year decreased by one from 7,054 to 7,053 made up of 5,034 retail assistants, 565 retail managers and 1,454 “central”.
Staff costs declined from €319.03m to €305.89m.
Directors last year received variable payroll amounts of €4.5m, €5.1m under long term incentive plans, benefits of €400,000, pension contributions of €100,000 while €700,000 was also paid out for compensation for loss of office.
At the end of September 13 last, Primark Ltd’s accumulated profits stood at €2.29 billion.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
