Cork-based retailing group Musgrave has reported a 16 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to €94 million on the back of a 6 per cent rise in sales to €4.9 billion.
The Musgrave group operates nine retail brands in the Republic and said sales through these outlets grew 12% to €3.9 billion.
Among those brands are Centra; which saw its sales rise 15 per cent to €1.4 billion and SuperValu; which reported 10 per cent rise in sales to over €2.2 billion.
Musgrave also operates 2,544 stores in the UK and said sale in that market rose 13 per cent to €2.9 billion. Sales through its Supervalu and Dialprix retailers in Spain increase 7 per cent to €121 million.
Over the year the company said it had almost halved its net debt to €96 million.
Musgrave chief executive Chris Martin said the results for 2007 were "satisfactory" and that the group now supports 3,400 stores across the UK, Ireland and Spain.
He said the group had created 2,000 new jobs last year, bringing its overall headcount to over 35,000. He said three-quarters of all items sold through its retain brands last year was either produced or sourced in Ireland.
He added that last year two-thirds of the waste produced by the group was recycled as opposed to landfill.