New consolidated accounts filed to Companies House in the UK show that profits at Dunnes Stores (Bangor) increased as revenues rose by 3pc, from £185m to £191m, in the year ending December 28 last.
Numbers employed by the company increased by 77 from 1,191 to 1,268 in that period, as staff costs rose from £19.18m to £20.4m.
The family-owned Irish retailer operates 15 stores in Northern Ireland including four in Belfast, two in Derry and two in Newry.
The group recorded post-tax profits of £14.13m after incurring a corporation tax charge of £6.17m.
According to the directors’ report signed off by Anne Heffernan, the group’s and company’s balance sheets “are robust, with strong cash flow and no external funding”.
In a report accompanying the accounts, Dr Heffernan states: “As a family company with generations of accumulated experience, we see things in the longer term and take our key business decisions accordingly.”
In a rare statement on the progress of the Dunnes business, she says that Dunnes Stores’ philosophy “is summed up by ‘better value’. The board of directors believes that this philosophy underpins the success of the company in its first 75 years and it continues to guide us into the future”.
Dr Heffernan also stated that almost every decision the company makes is about providing customers with the widest range of food products and the most exciting fashion and homewares brands and “all of our stakeholders work hard to achieve this”.
The company aims to be a responsible partner and employer, she added.
The pre-tax profit also takes into account non-cash depreciation costs of £2.1m.
The most recent Kantar Worldpanel survey shows that Dunnes Stores is the most popular retailer in the market here, holding the highest market share of 23.5pc with sales growth of 6.3pc year-on-year.
At the end of last year accumulated profits at Dunnes Stores (Bangor) stood at £76.95m while its cash funds increased from £45.65m to £58.14m.
The company’s cost of sales last year increased by 2pc from £142m to £145.1m with operating expenses dipping marginally from £28.94m to £28.3m.
Dunnes operates 137 stores in total across the group, with 118 in the Republic, 15 in Northern Ireland and four in Spain.
Dunnes is one of the largest private employers in Ireland and does not file detailed accounts here as the business has unlimited status. The group’s estimated revenues for 2024 were €4.1bn.
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