THE Irish Shell group increased its pre tax profit from £10.26 million in 1993 to £15.25 million in 1994. Sales grew from £118.1 million to £193.9 million. Profit margins improved from 5.45 per cent to 7.86 per cent. The Shell holding company, The Asiatic Petroleum Co (Dublin), controls a number of companies including Irish Shell, Shellstar Ireland, Shell Mex (Dublin), Nanking and Asiatic Pension Trust. The results from the holding company, published by Private Research, show that 3.3 per cent of sales went to Britain. The bulk(96.5 per cent) was generated through the sale of fuels.