Swedish group IKEA had a net profit of 2.7 billion Euros, in the fiscal year 2009-2010, which ended on August 31st, 2010, up 6.1% compared to previous fiscal year. The company"s turnover amounted to 23.1 billion Euros, up 7.7%.
IKEA remains one of the most profitable retailers, with a margin of 11.7%, according to French publication Les Echos, quoted by Mediafax. Operating expenses, excluding exceptional expenses, shrank 2.7% during the reviewed period, reflecting the improvement of the structural costs.
The group made a profit of 1.1 billion Euros from the sale of food products.
IKEA, which cut its long term debt to 213 million Euros, did not pay out any dividends to its owner, the "Stichting Ingka Foundation".
"Earnings for the 2009-2010 period beat our expectations, with an increase in sales and market share in most countries. We had double digit growth in China and Russia. We did very well in Europe as well, where South-Eastern markets are more volatile. We opened a total of 12 new stores in eight countries", said Mikael Ohlsson, the managing director of IKEA.
The group ended the fiscal year with 280 operational stores, in 26 states and with 127,000 employees.
IKEA plans to open seven new stores and plans a new wave of expansions.
The IKEA store of Bucharest, opened in March 2007, saw sales of 327.4 million lei in the 2010 catalog year (September 1st, 2009 - August 31st 2010) down 13% over YOY, according to data announced in October by the retailer.