Department stores Shaws earns €2.5m in profits as revenues grow to €68m

Shaws Department Stores recently launched a christmas cookbook. Special Olympics Athlete Timothy Morahan, Laura Lacey, Shaws, and Special Olympics Athlete Emma Costello unveiled the book at Shaws Department Store in Waterford. Picture: Matt Browne/Sportsfile

The firm that owns the Shaws department stores earned €2.5m in pre-tax profits on revenues of over €68m in its latest financial year.

Accounts filed by the family-owned Shaw and Sons Ltd show that revenues increased from €52.8m in the previous year.

Its financial year runs to the end of January.

The surge in revenues followed the lifting of the pandemic restrictions that had shut the firm’s 16 stores for 15 weeks.

The company also has a number of investment properties from which it gets rental income, but retail trading accounts for the lion’s share of revenues.

The business received €293,664 in “other income” in its latest financial year, but generated €66.8m from the sale of goods and €1.65m in concession income.

It employed 686 staff in the year, up from 518 in the previous year, while staff costs increased to €17.5m from €13.2m. 

The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €1.26m and a gain of €476,770 on the disposal of tangible assets.

The retailer recorded a post tax profit of €2.16m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €341,579.

On the company’s future developments, the directors said in the accounts they were continuing to focus on expanding sales online.

The directors said they had managed the business through the pandemic.

The amount paid out to directors totalled €1.53m, which included €1.37m in pay and €163,400 in pension contributions.

A note states that the total directors’ salaries includes the salaries of people connected with the directors, including that of a director’s spouse, civil partner, parent, brother, sister or child.

The note states that Shaws is a family company with multiple family members from several generations currently working in the business. 

The directors said the effect of a Companies Act provision is that all family members, most of whom are not on the board, are included in the directors’ pay, along with the executive and non-executive directors.

At the end of January, the firm’s shareholder funds totalled €48.36m which included accumulated profits of €36.3m. Its cash funds declined to €8.5m from €9.1m.