Flying Tiger Copenhagen sees profits dip at Irish arm

Profit for the Irish company operating the Flying Tiger Copenhagen chain of retail stores fell 28 per cent in 2016 on the back of investment in the brand's presence and business structure.

Tiger Retail Ireland's pretax profit fell to €1.19 million for the year to the end of December 2016, but Gillian Maxwell, one of the company's owners, said that with increased growth came increased costs. Ms Maxwell said the company was pleased with the results for 2016.

As of next week, Tiger will have 27 outlets in Ireland which are 50 per cent owned by Ms Maxwell and her husband, Niall Stringer, with the remainder owned by the Danish parent behind the business, Zebra A/S.

Zebra is also the sole supplier of goods to the Irish retail outlets, and the Irish arm paid over €5.2 million to their parent company in the period.

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Following a rebrand in 2016 and a “refreshing” of existing stores, administrative expenses jumped from €5.8 million to €7.8 million.

The Tiger parent company, which was established in 2000, has more than 600 stores in 28 countries. Lennart Lajboschitz, who founded the chain, first opened a shop called Zebra in Copenhagen in the mid-1990s. The store later rebranded under the name Tiger as more stores were added.

The retailer provides low-cost, design-led products in everyday categories such as kitchen utensils, office supplies, toys, hobby and crafts, party products, food, stationery, electronics, sports, gadgets and fashion accessories.

The business employs some 229 people in Ireland. In 2016, it had a wage and salary bill of €3.95 million. Following last year’s trend, the directors paid shareholders an interim dividend of €1 million, while director remuneration amounted to €152,660.

The Irish business is on the expansion trail, according to Ms Maxwell, and plans to open new stores in the southeast in 2018.