Pretax profit at the UK business of Irish-owned retail group Dunnes Stores last year more than halved to £12.3 million (€15.3 million).

Returns lodged by Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd at Companies House in the UK show that revenues at the group declined by 6.5 per cent from £177.8 million to £166.3 million in the year to the end of January 28th last.

The figures show that pre-tax profit dropped by 53 per cent from £26.2 million to £12.3 million.

The main factors behind the sharp drop were overheads increasing from £43.4 million to £47.3 million and interest receivable dropping from £5.1 million to £357,000.

The figures show that the group’s gross margin dropped marginally last year.

Dunnes Stores operates 23 stores in Northern Ireland; six in England and five in Scotland.

Across the entire network, the group operates 155 stores, which includes 116 in the Republic, employing 16,000 people.

Accounts for the Newry registered firm also confirm that it paid dividends of £4.14 million last year to Dublin-based parent, Dunnes Stores (Henry Street). This followed a dividend payout of £9.2 million the previous year.

The directors of Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd are listed as Francis Dunne and Margaret Heffernan.

The accounts offer the only insight into the finances of the family-owned business as Dunnes Stores has unlimited status in Ireland and is not required to file annual accounts.

In the Republic, Dunnes Stores is the second-biggest player in the Irish grocery sector behind Tesco.

According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, Dunnes Stores Ireland’s market share slipped during the year, declining from 23.3 per cent to 21.6 per cent at the end of September.

Group turnover is estimated by Top1000.ie, this newspaper's guide to Irish business, to be €3.8 billion. The numbers employed by the Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd last year dropped by 343 or 14 per cent from 2,342 to 1,999.Staff costs declined from £20.83 million to £20 million.

Accumulated profits at the Northern Ireland based group last year stood at £297.7 million. The accounts show that the firm’s cost of sales last year reduced from £113.8 million to £107.5 million. Profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of £4.9 million.

The firm’s net assets stood at £297.7 million. The group’s cash last year increased from £35.5 million to £42 million.