HARVEY NICHOLS NET UP 16.1%
LONDON — Harvey Nichols Group PLC, the department store and restaurant company 50.1 percent owned by Dickson Concepts of Hong Kong, reported a 16.1 percent hike in after-tax profits in the year ended March 28 as sales gained 12.5 percent.
Earnings came to $15.9 million against $13.7 million a year ago. Sales rose to $214.9 million from $190.1 million. Earnings per share were 29.1 cents, against 24.9 cents. Dollar figures are translated from the English pound at current exchange.
Growth resulted from sharply higher profits and sales at the Leeds, England, store, opened in fall 1996, and the Oxo Tower restaurant here. The firm’s two stores — in Knightsbridge here and in Leeds — posted an 11.3 percent gain in operating profits to $22.6 million on a 9.5 percent rise in sales to $201.5 million. Same-store sales rose 3.5 percent in Knightsbridge and 10 percent in Leeds, said Clive Morton, finance director. Growth in own-bought sales also lifted results.
The firm continues to seek a third store site, narrowing the choice to Edinburgh or Glasgow.