Profits at Irish arm of Argos decrease 17% to €23.2m

PRE-tax profits at the Irish unit of Argos last year have decreased by 17% to €23.2 million.

Accounts just filed with the Companies Registration Office by Argos Distributors (Ireland) Ltd show that revenues at the firm dropped by 25% from €273m to €205.2m in the 12 months to the end of February last.

The directors state that revenues were 25% down “due primarily to the current economic climate and resulting retail downturn”.

The filings show that the company’s pre-tax profits decreased from €28.1m to €23.2m.

The British-owned catalogue retailer’s operating profits last year fell by 38% from €41.9m to €25.9m.

The directors state that this arose as a result of the 25% decline in revenues, which resulted in gross profits falling from €106.9m to €86.7m.

The company recorded finance expenses of €13.7m in 2009 compared to €2.7m in 2010.

The accounts also include depreciation costs of €3m.

The company operates 39 stores throughout the country and the directors state that cost-saving initiatives were implemented during the year.

The numbers employed by the company declined by 99 during the year from 1,373 to 1,274, with staff costs declining marginally from €22.2m to €22.1m.

The accounts show that the company’s cost of sales dropped by 28% from €166m to €118m, while its net operating expenses decreased by 6% from €64.9m to €60.7m that included administrative expenses dropping from €12m to €9.5m.

The accounts show that the company had €130m in accumulated profits at the end of February last with total shareholder funds amounting to €356.5m.

The directors state that during the year “the company made further operational improvements by increasing the product range available at each individual store”.

The directors did not recommend the payment of a dividend last year.