Operating profits at the operator of luxury shopping destination Kildare Village last year increased by 82 per cent to €4.5 million.
New accounts show that operating profits at Value Retail Dublin Ltd increased as revenues rose by €3 million – or 16 per cent – from €18.47 million to €21.47 million.
The directors state that at the end of last year, the total amount of space leased stood at 91.5 per cent, which was a slight increase on the 90.1pc occupancy rate a year prior.
Following an expansion of the shopping quarter, the lettable area for the whole village increased to 21,606 square metres, which is almost twice the lettable area of 10,968 that Kildare Village opened with in 2006.
Some of the brands available at Kildare Village include Louise Kennedy, Guess, Armani, DKNY, Furla, Calvin Klein, Coach, Sweaty Betty, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Swarovski and Gym+Coffee.
The village today comprises 125 units, employs 1,500 people and attracts 4 million visitors per year.
Figures provided in a planning application by planning consultants for Kildare Village, RMLA show that the estimated revenues generated at Kildare Village each year is €182 million.
In July, UK property firm Hammerson confirmed that it sold its entire interest in Value Retail, a collection of fashion outlets that includes a stake in Kildare Village.
The assets have been bought by a company owned by US private equity firm, L Catterton and agreed to pay £1.5 billion for the properties, generating cash of £600 million for Hammerson.
The directors for Value Retail Dublin Ltd said they “are satisfied with the results for the year and are confident about the company's future prospects”.
They said “the company is in discussion with additional retail brands wishing to trade from the village and commercialisation and trading progress is in progress for this stage in its development”.
The firm recorded a pre-tax loss of €13.25 million following a pre-tax profit of €6.22 million in 2022 - a negative swing of €19.45 million.
The loss was due to €8.5 million in net finance costs, a €5.37 million loss in the fair value of derivatives and a €3.9 million write-down in the value of investment property.
The accounts show that revenues last year were made up of €11.84 million in licence fee income, €9.06 million in service charge income and €569,000 in ‘other income’.
During the year, the operator of Kildare Village won a planning battle in seeking to remove "overly restrictive" planning conditions concerning the sale of goods from Village outlets.
This followed Kildare County Council in December 2023 amending planning conditions concerning the operation of Kildare Village that now allow shops there to sell a limited range of non-discounted goods - no more than 10 per cent of any individual store.
