Pretax profits at the main Irish unit of retailer JD Sports this year increased by 4 per cent to €19.56 million.
Accounts for John David Sports Fashion (Ireland) Ltd, which operates the unit, show that the business recorded the increase in pretax profits as revenue rose by 14.5 per cent from €189.03 million to €216.44 million in the 12 months to the end of January 28th this year.
The retailer’s number of stores remained at 22.
The firm’s pretax profits of €19.56 million follow pretax profits of €18.76 million in the prior year and the company paid out an interim dividend of €30 million in the 12 months to the end of January 28th last.
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The directors said the company would “continue to utilise its store portfolio to improve market share and protect margin whilst exercising strong cost controls”.
They said that “with the support of the parent company, JD Sports Fashion Plc, the company continued to put in place mitigating activities to combat the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis”.
The business has a 65,000 sq ft dedicated warehouse in the northwest of Dublin supplying products to stores and fulfilling online orders in the Republic of Ireland.
The company’s cost of sales increased from €100.5 million to €115.34 million while selling and administrative expenses rose from €66.22 million to €76.64 million. Administrative expenses reduced from €3.47 million to €3.33 million.
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It recorded operating profits of €21.1 million and interest costs of €1.59 million reduced profits to €19.56 million.
The retailer’s stores network here includes outlets in Athlone, Carlow, Drogheda, Dundalk, Waterford, Wexford, Galway, Limerick, Newbridge, Killarney, Cork and outlets across Dublin.
The business enjoyed a post-tax profit of €16.9 million after incurring a €2.66 million corporation tax charge.
Numbers employed increased from 952 to 1,094 as staff costs rose from €12.99 million to €19.97 million.
The profit this year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €10 million.
At the end of January 2023 the firm’s shareholder funds totalled €25 million. The company’s cash funds increased from €59.64 million to €73.48 million.
Globally, in the same year, JD Sports recorded revenue of £10.12 billion (€11.5 billion) as its pretax profits increased from £947 million to £991 million.
The company’s largest market is the combined UK and Republic of Ireland, accounting for £3.7 billion of revenue followed by North America where revenues of £3.1 billion were recorded.
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