Kate helps Orla Kiely sales to soar 19% to £9.42m

Orla Kiely’s fashion empire — helped in no small way by Kate Middleton — continues to expand with sales increasing by 19% to £9.42m (€11.71m) last year.

However, in spite of the large growth in business, pre-tax profits at Kiely Rowan plc fell by 57% from £423,277 to £178,306 in the 12 months to the end of March this year (2012).

The Irish designer — best known for her quirky, retro stem prints — runs the firm with her husband, Dermott Rowan.

During the year, the Irish-designer’s business received a boost from Kate, the duchess of Cambridge, after she wore one of Kiely’s designer dress coats.

The brown dove patterned garment sold out within minutes of the duchess’s public appearance last February.

Other celebrities to sport Kiely’s distinctive fashion wear include Hollywood stars Kirsten Dunst and Kiera Knightley.

Ms Kiely’s products are sold in over 30 countries worldwide and the report attached to the accounts lodged with the UK’s Companies House states that they “are satisfied with the improvement shown in the year ended March 31st despite the hard economic conditions”.

The report continues: “The directors hope that turnover will continue to increase, partly due to further overseas expansion in the US and Asia and also due to an increase in the number of retail outlets.”

During the year, Orla Kiely continued its expansion, opening up a flagship 2,300 sq ft New York City store in Soho last November — this followed a store opening in Taiwan.

The directors point to the possibility of a double-dip recession in the UK as a risk facing the firm and “to mitigate the impact of this, we are expanding our product offering and developing our international and internet businesses”.

With the firm’s revenues increasing by almost 20%, the firm’s gross profit rose by 5% to £3.9m as the firm’s gross profit margin last year fell from 48% to 42%.

The figures show that Ms Kiely and Mr Rowanreceived aggregateremuneration of £311,667 last year.

In addition, the two directors own the brand name Orla Kiely and the fee paid by the plc for using the name during 2011/12 came to £94,279.

The two also received rent totalling £100,000 from the plc during the year.

The two owners received no dividend.

Shareholder funds at the firm last year topped £1.67m that included accumulated profits of £1.41m.

The UK remains the firm’s largest market accounting for 51% or £4.8m of revenues.