Pretax profits at the Irish arm of the world’s most valuable luxury brand, Louis Vuitton, last year increased by 14 per cent to €10.96 million in a record year for the business.
New accounts show that “bling was king” for the growing number of Irish people purchasing the brand’s products as revenues at Louis Vuitton Ireland Ltd increased by 21 per cent from €30.2 million to a record €36.49 million.
The brand has only one dedicated store here, at Brown Thomas on Dublin’s Grafton Street, but also generates online revenues.
Sales increased at the Grafton Street outlet by 33 per cent, from €23.7 million to €31.54 million. Online sales, however, fell 24 per cent from €6.5 million to €4.95 million.
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The brand is renowned for its expensive handbags – the City Steamer MM bag is available online for Irish customers at €38,500 in three different colours, while the Petite Malle CM bag sells for €20,000.
The business offers a designer range of leather goods, accessories, watches, jewellery, fragrances, shoes and clothing and its strong profits have resulted in the company proposing to pay out a dividend of €9.5 million in 2024.
This follows the company paying out dividends of €8.4 million in 2023 and €7.04 million in 2022.
The directors state that Louis Vuitton will continue to focus its efforts on developing client networks and will maintain a strict control over costs.
They said 2023 was a year of continued economic volatility where macroeconomic conditions, including high rates of inflation and interest, remain a challenge in the retail sector.
“In this context, we stay cautious about the ongoing difficulties impacting the industry and the wider economy. Despite this Louis Vuitton continues showing great strength and achieved double digit growth.”
The brand is a favourite of celebrities and pop stars – Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez have all been spotted sporting Louis Vuitton branded items.
It is also part of the multibillion euro stock market-listed and French headquartered LVMH Moet Hennessy luxury brands company.
The Irish arm last year recorded post tax profits of €9.53 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €1.43 million.
Numbers employed by the company increased from 15 to 24, and staff costs increased from €926,000 to €1.36 million. At the end of December, it had shareholder funds of €10.66m including accumulated profits of €9.53 million.
The directors said key commercial risks relate to the continued strength of other brands in the market.
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