River Island’s Irish profits jump more than 50%

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of fashion retailer River Island increased by 53% to €4.89m in 2018, newly-filed accounts show.

The accounts show River Island Clothing Company (Ireland) Ltd’s pre-tax profits increased in spite of revenues declining by 15% from €84.39m to €71.43m during 2018.

The company operates 24 stores across the country and employs some 741 workers.

The figures show that staff costs totalled €10.3m, during the year under review.

In the 2018 accounts, the company’s directors said that “overall, trading was stable and the business has continued to invest significantly in its core customer proposition and keep pace with technological developments to service customers’ changing requirements to shop across multiple channels”.

The company extended one store in 2018 but it did not open any new outlets.

River Island paid a dividend of €10m in 2018.

The company’s 2018 pre-tax profits take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.16m and operating lease rental costs of €13.47m.

At the end of 2018, the company had shareholder funds of €13.22m.

The company’s cash pile reduced from €41.6m to €17.7m during the year in question, the accounts reveal.

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