Profits halved at Dunnes UK arm

Pre-tax profits at theUK business of Irish-owned retail giant Dunnes Stores last year more than halved to £12.3m (€15.4m), figures show.

Returns filed by Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd to the Companies House in the UK, show revenues at the group declined by 6.5% from £177.8m to £166.3m in the year to the end of Jan 28 this year. Pre-tax profits dropped by 53% from £26.2m to £12.3m.

The main factors behind the sharp drop in pre-tax profits were overhead expenses increasing from £43.4m to £47.3m and interest receivable dropping from £5.1m to £357,000.