Pretax profits at the Irish arm of clothing giant, H&M, increased five fold to €3.87 million last year as its “bricks and mortar” stores delivered a “solid performance”.
New accounts show that pretax profits increased 437 per cent at the Swedish owned H&M Hennes & Mauritz (Ireland) Ltd even as revenues declined by 1 per cent to €111.99 million in the 12 months to the end of November 30th 2024.
In their report, the directors state that the business “delivered a significantly stronger performance compared to FY23, despite ongoing challenges within the retail sector”.
The overall decline in revenues “was primarily due to lower-than-expected customer demand in the online channel but was partly offset by a positive store performance 1.86 per cent, reflecting the solid performance of the physical store portfolio,” the directors said.
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During the year under review, H&M opened a new outlet at Clerys Quarter in March 2024 and at 30,000 sq ft spread across two floors is the second largest store for H&M in Ireland.
During 2024, the company operated 22 stores across the country made up of 15 H&M stores, one &Other Stories store and six COS stores.
The directors add that “the increase in profitability can be attributed to optimisation of cost structure and streamlining processes”.
During the year, operating expenses reduced by 6 per cent to €61.05 million as cost of sales reduced from €48.23 million to €47.45 million.
The company continued its expansion here with the opening of the first Arket store in Ireland on Dublin’s Dawson last month and the directors state that the store “will further strengthen our physical footprint and broaden the range of brands available to customers”.
The firm had a post tax profit of €2.95 million after recording a corporation tax charge of €912,116.
The opening of the new H&M at Clerys Quarter contributed to staff numbers rising by 67 to 541 as staff costs rose from €10.54 million to €11.96 million.
The profit for 2024 takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €5.43 million and rental costs increasing from €3.96m to €4.68 million.
At the end of November 2024, the firm had shareholder funds of €18.19 million that included accumulated profits of €11.6 million.
