Revenues at the operator of clothing and homeware retailer, TK Maxx this year surged by 20% or €40.48m to €240.3m as the business recovered from the business impact of Covid-19.

New accounts filed by TJX Ireland UC show that pre-tax profits declined by 28% to €4m in the 12 months to the end of January 28th this year.

However, the €5.54m pre-tax profit for the prior year period was skewed by €5m in Employer Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) payments which appear as 'other operating income' in the firm’s profit and loss account.

No EWSS payments were received in the 12 months to the end of January 28th this year.

The directors also state the decline in profit was due to a one-off payment of €3.8m concerning licence fee charges for prior years.

The accounts also cover the performance of the firm’s Homesense stores.

The directors state that there were no pandemic related closures during the 12 months compared to closures covering 29% of the prior period.

The number of TK Maxx stores remained at 27 while the number of Homesense stores also remained the same at two.

The directors state that the company utilised tax deferral schemes in relation to VAT, PAYE and PRSI which resulted in a tax liability in 2022 "which has been fully repaid during the reporting period".

The company enjoyed a post tax profit of €6.1m after recording a corporation tax credit of €2.1m.

The US headquartered business recorded operating profits of €4.012m and net interest costs of €12,000 reduced profits to a pre-tax profit of €4m.

Numbers employed by the group declined from 1,476 to 1,385 and staff costs reduced from €30m to €28.66m.

The breakdown of revenues show that TK Maxx generated €231.23m in revenues and €9m was recorded at Homesense revenues.

The directors state that the stores here have prices that are generally significantly below department and speciality stores regular prices on comparable merchandise.

The directors state that the company does not generally engage in promotionally pricing activity such as sales or coupons.

The profit last year takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €3.2m while rent costs totalled €11m and ‘other lease costs’ totalled €2.32m.

At the end of January 28th this year, the firm’s accumulated profits totalled €44.75m. The firm's cash funds last year declined from €46.12m to €29.34m.

Reporting by Gordon Deegan