The Co Mayo-founded Smyths Toys business last year enjoyed record group revenues of €1.465 billion.
This is confirmed with the business’s German, Austrian and Swiss entity reporting revenues increased by 4% to €475.35 million for 2020.
The European revenues for Smyths follows three other Smyths’ companies that operate stores here, in the UK and Northern Ireland reporting combined revenues of €990.65 million for 2020.
The combined revenues of €1.465 billion for the four Smyths firms during the Covid-19 hit 2020 are marginally ahead of the revenues of €1.461 billion recorded in 2019.
Latest accounts for Smyths Toys EU HQ Unlimited Co show the business recorded pre-tax profits of €10.97 million last year and this followed the business recording a pre-tax loss of €30.8 million in 2019 which was mainly due to exceptional re-organisational costs.
The accounts for the four separate companies show combined profits of €26m for 2020.
Stores
Tracing its roots to a family newsagent in Claremorris Co Mayo, the group now 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.
Across its network at the end of last year, the four Smyths firms employed almost 6,000 staff.
The staff costs for the 5,994 staff totalled €138.14 million.
The group’s UK operation remains the largest in terms of scale with revenues of £620 million last year, where it employs 2,901.
European growth
However, the group’s mainland Europe business continued to grow last year despite the pandemic impact with revenues across its German, Austrian and Swiss stores increasing by €17.98m to €475.35m.
According to the directors, “the store closures due to the outbreak of Covid-19 around Easter and Q4 2020 had a negative effect on the performance of the business”.
The report adds: “Despite this, the directors are satisfied with the result given ongoing Covid-19 impacts, the current economic climate and the competitive marketplace.”
On the Covid-19 impact on its European business, the directors state that stores in Austria and Switzerland have re-opened in 2021 "and are performing strongly".
They add however that "the impact in the German market has increased with restrictions still in place in Germany".
The EU business recorded operating profits last year of €13.17 million and exceptional costs of €1.8 million concerning re-organisation along with interest payments of €397,000 resulted in the pre-tax profit of €10.97 million.
In 2019, the €17.27 million exceptional cost concerning re-organisation contributed to the pre-tax loss of €30.8 million for that year.
