Revenues at the UK arm of the Smyth Toys last year increased by 2 per cent to a record £953.5 million (€1.09 billion).
New accounts filed by the Galway headquartered Smyths Toys UK Ltd shows that pretax profits increased marginally from £18.4 million to £18.5 million on the back of bumper sales of best-sellers including Lego, Nerf Guns, Paw Patrol, Disney’s Lilo and Stitch and Despicable Me 4.
The Smyths Toys retail business today stretches to 311 stores across the island of Ireland, the UK, Germany, France, Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
It operates 124 stores in England, Scotland and Wales.
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The directors for the UK unit state that the 2 per cent increase in revenues to £953.5 million is primarily due to an increase in footfall in the stores and the addition of seven new stores during the year.
The opening of seven new stores follows two new store openings in 2023.
The company recorded operating profits of £20.6 million and interest expenses of £2.1 million resulted in the pretax profits of £18.5 million.
They state that the company’s gross margin increased from 17.6 per cent to 18.6 per cent in 2024 “due to the increase in sales and continued focus on cost reduction”.
The firm’s buoyant performance resulted in the business paying out a dividend of £20 million.
The directors add that they “are pleased with this result particularly given the current economic climate and the competitive marketplace”.
Numbers employed by Smyths Toys UK Ltd increased by 177 from 3,386 to 3,563.
On the future developments of the business, the directors that it is envisaged that further expansion will occur in the UK market in the coming years through the opening of new stores.
In the past year, Smyths Toys has expanded its presence in France to bring to 52 stores there today and it also operates four stores in the Netherlands.
The firm’s German business has also expanded in the past year where it today operates 76 stores.
The business is operated by the Smyth family from Co Mayo.
Staff costs at Smyths Toys UK last year increased by 10 per cent to £74.34 million.
The company’s lease costs totalled £35.4 million. The company recorded a post tax profit of £13.1 million arising from a corporation tax charge of £5.36 million.
Shareholder funds at the end of December last totalled £10.22 million that included accumulated profits of £7.2 million.
