The expanding Irish arm of UK pharmaceutical retail giant Boots last year increased its pre-tax profits by 12% to €17.8m.

THE expanding Irish arm of British pharmaceutical retail giant Boots last year increased its pre-tax profits by 44% to €15.9 million.

The Boots outlet in Dublin's Liffey Valley shopping centre delivered the second highest sales across the entire Boots retail chain of more than 3,000 stores for the Christmas period, the company said today.