To Eire is Human, to B&Q is DIY.

The Sunday Times December 18, 2005

Profits fall 23% for B&Q in Ireland



B&Q, the British DIY giant that began trading here in 2002, saw its pre-tax profits in Ireland decline by 23% last year from to €4.1m due to the costs associated with opening two new stores, writes Ciaran Hancock.
Sales in the year to the end of January 2005, however, continued to power ahead, rising by 24% to €57.8m.



Steve Lewis, B&Q’s marketing manager for Ireland, said the drop in profits was due to a store in Swords opening six weeks before the year end while costs were also incurred for a new outlet in Mahon Point, Cork, which opened in March 2005.

“It was simply a timing issue,” he said. “We had all the costs of the opening in Swords but only six weeks of sales and also bore some costs for opening (in the current financial year) in Cork. The performance of these stores will be reflected in this year’s sales figures.”

Since the year end, B&Q has opened new stores in Athlone, Limerick and Naas. It now has seven outlets and employs about 900 staff. “We continue to look at other opportunities for expansion,” Lewis said.

B&Q’s tax charge for the year fell from €721,584 to €550,423. Last year’s after-tax surplus of €3.5m was retained to give B&Q Ireland accumulated profits of €9.9m.

As in 2004, no dividend was paid to Kingfisher, its UK parent group. Its main rivals here are Woodies and Atlantic Homecare, both owned by Ireland’s Grafton Group, and Homebase, a UK DIY chain.