Profits at River Island’s Irish arm rise 53%

Revenue declines by 15% during 2018

River Island operates 24 Irish stores. Photograph: iStock
River Island operates 24 Irish stores. Photograph: iStock

Pretax profits at the Irish arm of fashion retailer River Island increased by 53 per cent to €4.89 million in 2018.

Accounts for the company show that the increase came despite revenues declining by 15 per cent from €84.39 million to €71.43 million during 2018.

The company operates 24 stores across the country employing 741. Its staff costs totalled €10.3 million in 2018.

According to the directors, “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”.

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The company extended one outlet in 2018 but didn’t open any new stores. It paid a dividend of €10 million in 2018.

The company’s pretax profits take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.16 million and operating lease rental costs of €13.47 million.

At the end of 2018, it had shareholder funds of €13.22 million. The company’s cash pile reduced from €41.6 million to €17.7 million.

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan

Gordon Deegan is a contributor to The Irish Times