Family-owned Irish retailer Dunnes Stores saw an 18% rise in pre-tax profits at its UK operations to £13.2m for the 12-month period to the end of January 2016. Operating profits for the UK arm of the Dunnes Stores business increased 14% to £11.9m, as operating margins widened 170 basis points to a very strong 9.4%.

The figures are contained in a set of accounts for Dunnes Stores (Bangor) Ltd that were recently filed with the UK Companies Office. The accounts of this UK subsidiary offer the only real insight into the financial background of Dunnes Stores as the secretive retail giant is registered as an unlimited company that does not file accounts in Ireland. Dunnes’ UK business comprises 29 stores, with 20 of these in Northern Ireland.

The increase in profits for Dunnes UK comes despite a 7% decline in turnover to £127.6m, while the business had cash in the bank of more than £136m at year-end. According to the accounts, Dunnes UK operations paid a dividend of £306,000 to its parent company last year.

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