Combined revenues at the UK and Northern Ireland units of Galway headquartered retail toy giant, Smyths Toys last year totaled £666.56m.
According to new accounts filed by Smyths Toys UK Ltd and Smyth's Toys NI Ltd, combined revenues decreased only marginally by £1.3m from £667.874m to £666.56m despite the Covid-19 shutdown on its 'bricks and mortar’ store network during part of 2020.
The accounts for Smyths Toys UK Ltd show that the company’s pre-tax profits last year decreased by 24% from £12.48m to £9.5m. This followed revenues decreasing from £622.8m to £620m.
The directors state that the company’s store network had to close again this year from January to April due to Covid-19 but that since re-opening, all stores "are performing strongly".
On the 2020 performance, the directors state that they "are pleased with this result, particularly given the current economic climate, the competitive market place and the outbreak of Covid-19".
The UK company last year paid out a dividend of £31m.
Numbers employed at the UK firm last year increased by 92 from 2,809 to 2,901 and staff costs reduced from £44.8m to £42.66m.
Smyths Toys operates 106 stores in England, Scotland and Wales with another seven in Northern Ireland.
Pre-tax profits at the Northern Ireland unit, Smyth’s Toys NI Ltd reduced by 22 per cent to £703,000 as revenues increased by three per cent from £45.19m to £46.47m.
In total, the group operates 248 stores across its entire network in the UK, Ireland and continental Europe.
Along with the 113 stores in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Smyths Toys operates 21 in the Republic of Ireland, 88 in Germany, 16 in Austria and 10 in Switzerland.
The directors state that "it is envisaged that further expansion will occur in the UK market in the coming years through the opening of new stores.
The profits for the UK operation take account of non-cash depreciation costs of £12.66m.
The company’s lease costs reduced from £30.3m to £27.9m. The firm last year recorded post tax profits of £7.07m after paying corporation tax of £2.43m.
Shareholder funds at the end of December last totaled £20.28m.
