Dunnes Stores' UK profits soar 68%

PROFITS AT Dunnes Stores’ business in Britain rose by 68 per cent last year in spite of the difficult economic backdrop there.

Latest accounts for Dunnes Stores (UK) Ltd show it made a pre-tax profit of £3.75 million (€4.32 million) in the year to the end of January 2010.

This compared with a surplus of £2.2 million in the previous year.

The retailer’s turnover rose by 10.6 per cent to £32.5 million. Shareholders’ funds were £16.6 million, up from £14.3 million in the previous period.

An interim dividend of £179,073 was paid by the UK business but no final dividend was approved. It paid a dividend of £268,353 in the previous year.

Dunnes Stores does not disclose any financial information for its 116 grocery and textiles stores in the Republic as they form an unlimited entity, but accounts are filed for its subsidiaries in Northern Ireland, Britain and Spain.

Trading in Northern Ireland and Spain is captured in the accounts of a company called Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd, which has yet to file its documents for last year.

Dunnes operates six stores in England and five in Scotland, according to information on its website.