Profits triple at Irish arm of Screwfix to €4.1m on back of record revenues of €131.7m

The company had an increase in like-for-like sales of 10.7% through a combination of higher volumes and higher selling prices

The firm continued its expansion here this year, increasing the number of stores to 45.

Pre-tax profits at the Irish arm of DIY home improvement retailer Screwfix this year increased more than three-fold to €4.14m on the back of record revenues.

New accounts filed by Screwfix Direct (Ireland) Ltd show that the company recorded the 207% increase in pre-tax profit in the 12 months to the end of January this year after revenues increased by 12% from €117.66m to €131.73m.

The firm continued its expansion here this year, increasing the number of stores to 45 - an increase of five on this time last year.

The company recorded an operating profit of €5.4m and net finance costs of €978,000 and other exceptional expenses of €295,000 reduced the profits to a pre-tax profit of €4.14m.

The principal activity of the company continued to be the sale of trade and DIY home improvement products to both tradespeople and the general public, primarily through the company's Trade Counter outlet network and website.

Screwfix is owned by the UK-headquartered Kingfisher plc and the directors for the Irish unit state that the company had an increase in like-for-like sales of 10.7% compared to 6.3% in the prior year.

They state that “this increase is mainly from growth in sales in existing stores through a combination of higher volumes and higher selling prices".

New stores have also contributed to revenues rising, according to the directors.

Eyeing further expansion, the directors state that the company intends to develop the Trade Counter network by opening further locations.

They state that it also intends to develop its range further to meet the needs of customers more fully.

The directors state that gross margin reduced from 29% to 27% and the decrease was “driven by reducing participation of higher margin product ranges”.

The directors state that “as the new stores mature the expectation is that sales will continue to increase, and the business will remain in a profitable position”.

They state that the company will retain its focus on delivering value to its customers, leveraging the scale of Kingfisher to manage cost price inflation and ensuring competitive price index against competitors, as well as offering a leading range of own brands to provide customers with value options.

Numbers employed by the firm this year decreased from 515 to 483 as staff costs rose slightly from €13.64m to €13.71m.

Pay to directors this year increased from €237,000 to €256,000.

The firm recorded a post tax profit of €3.48m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €653,000.

The profits this year take account of non-cash depreciation costs of €4.12m.

Shareholder funds totalled €1.83m made up of €7m in called up share capital offset by retained losses of €5.16m.

Cash funds increased from €905,000 to €1.46m.