Clerys has declared that its trading losses are behind it after the Dublin department store group returned to the black with a pretax profit of €788,025 for 2005. Chief executive PJ Timmins said the business was performing "reasonably well" after a significant turnaround in the year to January and the reversal of losses in 2004.
Clery & Co (1941) plc owns the landmark Clerys store on O'Connell Street, Guiney's on Talbot Street and At Home with Clerys furniture stores in Leopardstown and Blanchardstown.
With gross margins increasing across the group and operating expenses down by €659,206, the driver of its recovery was the allocation of increased floorspace to concessionaires who sell their own branded goods within the company's outlets.
The level of concessionaire sales is disclosed publicly for the first time in accounts that will be filed in the Companies Office within the next fortnight. With gross transaction value of all sales in the company's outlets on the rise by 8.32 per cent to €67.91 million, concessionaire sales rose 21.39 per cent to €33.33 million from €27.39 million. These figures include value-added tax.
Clerys' "own bought" sales declined to €34.58 million from €35.3 million but Mr Timmins said that figure reflected the allocation of space to concessionaries. Excluding value added tax, Clerys' "own bought" sales declined to €28.64 million from €29.25 million.
The pretax profit of €788,025 contrasted with a pretax loss of €533,319 in 2004. The loss in 2004 was restated downwards from €742,875 in light of the FRS 17 accounting standard, which deals with retirement benefits.
The most recent trading period was the first full year of trading following the completion of the €22 million O'Connell Street store redevelopment.
"New concessions introduced in the past 12 months included Morgan de Toi and Principles ladies fashions, Dolcis men's shoes, Barnie's coffee house and Sunglasses Hut-Watch Station," says the directors' report to be filed with the accounts. "The confidence and progress shown by our new and existing concessionaires is testimony to the success of the store development."
The report says the O'Connell Street store showed significant improvement on the previous year with a return to profitability. Guiney's "continued to show satisfactory improvement", it said.
The two furniture stores showed similar improvement "in the face of significantly increased local competition and higher lease rentals".
The future of the trust that holds a controlling interest in the business has been the subject of considerable speculation since the death in 2004 of the long-time Clerys chairwoman Mary Guiney. A spokeswoman said change was not planned.
"We don't foresee any change at all within the structure of the trust," she said.
"The first quarter of this year was positive and trading has continued to bode well for the future. Footfall is also up on this side of O'Connell Street and in the O'Connell Street store."
