Revenue up but profits decline at Lifestyle Sports
Jersey: Limerick's Cian Lynch takes on Brendan Maher of Tipperary, the Limerick kit was a big seller for Lifestyle Sports. Photo: Ray McManus/Sportsfile
Bumper sales of Limerick GAA jerseys were not enough to prevent a slip in pre-tax profits to €4.98m at Lifestyle Sports last year.
New accounts filed by Lifestyle Sports (Ireland) Ltd show that the business recorded the 1pc drop in pre-tax profits from €5m to €4.98m despite an increase in revenues of 4pc - from €103m to €107.5m - in the 12 months to the end of September last.
Increased sales of Limerick jerseys as a result of the county's All-Ireland success contributed to the increase in revenues.
The retail group operates 54 stores north and south and the figures for Lifestyle Sports (Ireland) Ltd relate only to the firm's Republic business where 50 stores are located.
Numbers employed by the group last year totalled 484 and staff costs last year totalled €13.7m.
The pre-tax profit last year takes account of €203,485 in store closure and restructuring costs and this follows costs of €1m under the same heading in 2017.
The directors state that the firm's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation and one-off exceptional items totalled €9.27m compared to €10.23m the previous year.
Accumulated profits at the firm last September totalled €30.37m. The firm's cash pile decreased from €11.8m to €6.2m.
The Lifestyle retail business is owned and operated by the Wicklow based Stafford family-owned group and the Lifestyle arm is facing increased competition here as UK firm, Sports Direct continues with its major expansion plans for Ireland.
Separate accounts for Stafford Holdings show that the owners received a cash dividend of €4.2m during the year. The principle activity of the holding firm is sports retailing and management services. Its revenues from both the North and the Republic of Ireland last year totalled €114m.
The profit at the Lifestyle company last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €2.6m, amortisation costs of €1.34m while operating lease costs increased from €9.6m to €10.9m.
Directors' pay at the Lifestyle Sports firm last year increased from €220,080 to €256,686.
The Lifestyle firm's cost of sales last year totalled €57.8m while its selling and distribution costs amounted to €39.9m.
The company's administrative costs totalled €4.4m. After paying €818,916 in corporation tax, the company recorded a post tax profit of €4.16m.
