The Irish arm of retail and pharmacy giant Boots recorded pre-tax profits last year of €36.56m — an increase of 24%, newly filed financial accounts show.
The accounts show that the business increased profits as revenues climbed by 11% from €475.36m to a record €529.6m in the 12 months to the end of August 2023. The company’s pre-tax profits in 2022 stood at €29.54m.
During the year, Boots Ireland opened two new outlets bringing the store network to 94. The directors state that retail revenues made up 87.5% of total revenues with pharmacy revenues making up the remaining 12.5%.
They state that comparable retail revenues increased by 10.6% “as a result of growth in a number of categories, in particular the beauty category”.
The directors said that comparable pharmacy revenues increased by 7% “mainly due to strong volume growth in particular in relation to Government schemes”.
According to the report, operating profits increased by 13.6% to €38.5m primarily from stronger sales across retail and pharmacy, partially offset by a rise in distribution costs.
The firm recorded a post-tax profit of €29.9m after the company incurred a corporation tax charge of €6.6m. The number of people employed by the company decreased from 1,646 to 1,630 though staff costs increased from €68.73m to €72.29m.
Remuneration paid to directors last year dipped marginally from €1.12m to €1.04m and the highest paid director received €547,000 made up of €349,000 in pay, €166,000 under long-term incentive schemes and €32,000 in pension contributions.
On the risks facing the business, the directors state that “the impact of the current global cost pressures and supply chain disruptions has resulted in high inflation rates in the Republic of Ireland and globally.”
They said that these factors, along with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, “have contributed to a cost-of-living crisis within the Republic of Ireland which could impact various stakeholders as well as the business”.
The directors added that the impact of the UK’s departure from the EU has stabilised, “although management continues to monitor any further developments”.
The directors also noted that the cost-of-living crisis has not caused a significant impact on the business to date, however, there is some impact on the short-term outlook for growth and an increase in operating costs.