The Irish subsidiary of the popular Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M saw profits more than halve last year despite turnover rising 21 per cent.

Accounts lodged with the Companies Registration Office recently show H&M Hennes & Mauritz (Ireland) Limited recorded a pretax profit of €2.1 million for the 12 months ending November 2015. This compares with a €4.2 million profit a year earlier.

Turnover increased to €91.4 million from €75.4 million in the previous year, with like-for-like sales up 5 per cent.

Strengthening dollar

The gross profit margin percentage decreased from 51.5 per cent in the prior year to 47.6 per cent in 2015 due to increased buying prices for goods arising from a strengthening dollar.

“The directors believe the business performed well considering the challenging retail environment in 2015,” H&M said.

The company has 17 H&M stores in Ireland, including a flagship outlet on College Green, which opened in late 2014. It also operates five Cos branded shops and one stand-alone Cos outlet here.

H&M, which opened it first store in Ireland at the Dundrum Town Centre in March 2005, said an ordinary dividend of €11,067 was declared and paid during the year under review. Company directors have since approved a €1.5 million dividend since the year end.

The company employed about 437 employees last year, increasing from 386 in 2014 due to new store openings.

Staff costs, including wages and salaries, totalled €12.3 million compared with €10 million a year earlier.

“The directors aim to maintain growth in competitive market conditions and will continue to look for ideal locations for new stores,” the company said.

The accounts show the Irish subsidiary transferred €2.89 million to a holding company, H&M Hennes & Mauritz GBC AB, last year. It incurred charges of €6.59 million from fellow group companies for management services and charged a total of €1.27 million for services it provided to other units.