French sports retailer Decathlon sees Irish sales top €1bn

French sports retailer Decathlon may not have any bricks and mortar stores operating here yet but its Irish arm recorded sales of more than €1.1bn in 2018, newly filed accounts show.

The company is set to open its first Irish store, at Ballymun in north Dublin, next month. The business has been selling into the Irish market via its website since August 2017 and averages around 60,000 orders each year.

The company recorded revenues of €269,361 in 2017 but revenues soared to more than €1.1bn in 2018 after Decathlon Ireland became the supply centre for Decathlon European retail activities.

The change of designation for the company occurred only in October 2018, showing that the €1.1bn revenues represent little over two months of business.

However, pre-tax profits at the business in 2018 were comparatively low at €6.45m due to the company’s cost of sales of €1.08bn.

The company recorded a post-tax profit of €5.64m in 2018 after paying corporation tax of €802,609.

Numbers employed by the company increased from two to 16 in 2018 and staff costs increased to €919,880. Directors’ pay totalled €388,203. The company received a cash injection of €500m during 2018.