Pre-tax profits at the Northern Ireland arm of Irish family owned retail giant Dunnes Stores last year increased by 12% to £22.71m (€26.7m).
New consolidated accounts filed by Dunnes Stores (Bangor) to Companies House in the UK show that the firm’s profits increased as revenues rose by 7% from £191m to £204.1m.
Numbers employed reduced by five during the year to 1,263 as staff costs rose by 9% from £20.4m to £22.3m.
The family-owned Irish retailer operates 15 stores in Northern Ireland including four in Belfast, two in Derry and two in Newry.
The group recorded post tax profits of £16.66m after incurring a corporation tax charge of £6.04m.
The firm’s operating profits increased by 6% from £18.22m to £19.34m and the company benefited from £2.96m in interest income and a non-cash gain of £401,000 on the increase in value of an investment property.
According to the directors’ report signed off by director Dr Anne Heffernan, the group’s and company’s balance sheets “are robust with strong cash flow and no external funding”.
In a report accompanying the accounts, Dr Heffernan states “as a family company with generations of accumulated experience, we see things in the longer term and take our key business decisions accordingly”.
Dr Heffernan states that “Dunnes Stores philosophy is summed up by ‘Better Value’. The board of directors believes that this philosophy underpins the success of the company in its first 80 years and it continues to guide us into the future”.
“As a retail business, almost every decision we make is about providing customers with the widest, freshest range of food products and the most exciting fashion and homewares brands and in-store experience,” she added.
“All of our stakeholders work hard to achieve this. We know we depend on all of our people and partners and we aim to be a responsible partner and employer,” she said.
The pre-tax profit also takes into account non-cash depreciation costs of £2.25m.
The most recent Worldpanel by Numerator survey shows that Dunnes Stores is the most popular retailer in the market here, with a market share of 24.3% with year-on-year sales growth of 8.2%.
At the end of last year, Dunnes Stores (Bangor) accumulated profits stood at £95.46m while its cash funds increased from £58.14m to £76.28m.
The company’s cost of sales last year increased by 6% from £145.1m to £153.87m with operating expenses rising from £28.3m to £30.6m.
Across the group, Dunnes operates 134 stores across the Republic, Northern Ireland and in Spain and a growing online store.
Dunnes is one of the largest private employers in Ireland with the company website stating that 18,017 are employed.
The Irish headquartered company does not file detailed accounts here as the business has unlimited status.
The first Dunnes Stores was opened by store founder, the late Ben Dunne on Cork’s Patrick Street in 1944.
