In a separate note, the directors said that the retail market remains “highly competitive” and that the principal risks the Dunnes Stores group faces is “trading in the current economic climate”.
The accounts offer a rare glimpse under the bonnet of the Dunnes Stores group, which is registered with the Companies Registration Office in the Republic as an unlimited company, meaning it is not obliged to file publicly available accounts. The Northern Irish entity was also responsible for the group’s outlets in Britain, which were closed in 2018.
Accumulated profits at the Northern Irish company topped £45 million at the end of the 2021 financial year and its cash pile grew by 30 per cent from 2020 to £38 million. Dunnes Stores Bangor owed its creditors £53 million at the end of last year, close to 70 per cent of which was owed to other companies within the Dunnes group.