Smyths Toys’ Irish and UK revenue passes €1bn for first time

The revenue of retailer Smyths Toys passed the €1 billion mark for the first time last year for its operations in Ireland and Britain.

Revenue at the Republic of Ireland, British and Northern Ireland units last year totalled €1.2 billion, new accounts show.

Latest accounts for the business’s Irish unit, Smyths Toys Ltd, show its pretax profit last year increased by 39 per cent to €4.35 million. This followed revenue increasing by 3.5 per cent to €217.6 million. The business operates 21 stores here.

Revenue of £838.7 million (€973.7 million) was generated by its units in Britain and Northern Ireland last year. It has115 stores in the UK.

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Smyths also has a substantial store network in continental Europe, with 67 shops in Germany, 17 in Austria and 11 in Switzerland. Revenue across the group is estimated to exceed €1.6 billion for 2021.

The entity that oversees the European business, Smyths Toys EU HQ Unlimited Co, is unlimited and is not required to file accounts.

However, accounts filed for the European entity for 2020 and 2019 show it recorded revenue of €475.4 million and €457.4 million respectively in those years.

Revenue at Smyths Toys UK Ltd (which excludes Northern Ireland) increased by £167.9 million or 27 per cent to £788 million.

The firm almost doubled its pretax profit to £18.1 million on the back of bumper sales of best-sellers Lego, Barbie, Nerf Guns, Paw Patrol and My Little Pony toys.

The business is operated by the Smyth family from Co Mayo and three members sit on the board: Anthony Smyth, Liam Smyth and Patrick Smyth. Thomas Smyth resigned as a director on November 1st, 2021.

On the operation of the Irish business last year, the directors state that Covid-19 restrictions resulted in store closures from January to May 2021. “All stores reopened and performed strongly for the remainder of the year,” the directors state.

The company recorded post-tax profits of €3.7 million after paying out corporation tax of €655,000.

Numbers employed across the Irish business last year decreased from 617 to 546 as staff costs reduced marginally from €14.4 million to €14.3 million.

The company’s lease costs decreased from €5.2 million to €4.6 million. Shareholder funds at the end of December last totalled €14 million.

The directors state that the principal risks and uncertainties facing the business are competitive price pressures, foreign currency fluctuations, together with Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.