The Irish arm of Foot Locker, one of the well known retail brands that suffered looting in the recent Dublin riots, recorded pre-tax losses of €115,000 last year.
The US headquartered Foot Locker operates seven stores here including its Lower O'Connell Street outlet where footage was broadcast of looters entering the Foot Locker outlet on the night of the riots of November 23 last.
New accounts show that the operator of the seven stores, Foot Locker Retail Ireland Ltd, recorded the pre-tax losses of €115,000 after enjoying a pre-tax profit of €161,000 in 2021 - a negative swing of €276,000.
The firm recorded the losses after revenues increased by 16% from €9.95m to €11.54m.
The company's outlets here are located on Lower O’Connell Street, Grafton Street, Blanchardstown Upper Mall, The Square, the Ilac Centre on Henry Street and the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords in Co Dublin along with one outlet in Limerick.
The business sells the best known shoe brands including Adidas, Nike, Converse and Puma.
The directors state that they are satisfied with the results for the year.
They state that "during the year, although normal business operations were disrupted due to Covid-19 restrictions, turnover was slightly higher by €1.5m".
The accounts show that the pre-tax loss of €115,000 takes account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €459,000.
Numbers employed by Foot Locker last year here dipped by one to 23. The firm's operating lease costs last year totalled €1.93m following a spend of €2.73m under that heading in 2021.
Staff costs last year increased from €880,269 to €1.18m while the company’s rates and levies bill totalled €104,379. The company's marketing spend last year increased slightly, rising from €249,409 to €253,974.
Insurance costs last year increased from €37,933 to €46,968 while there was a large jump in professional fees rising from €77,597 to €439,161. The company’s HR costs increased from €783,281 to €824,067.
At the end of December last, the firm shareholders' equity of €7.6m made up of a capital contribution of €11.65m offset by accumulated losses of €4.86m.
The company said its cash funds increased from €2.2m to €3.58m.
Globally last year, Foot Locker recorded revenues of $8.7 billion and had pre-tax profits of $542m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
