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Irish book, newspaper and stationery retailer Eason made an operating loss of €5.3m in the year to end January 2012, according to the Irish Independent.
The chain, which faces boardroom changes later this month, paid exceptional costs of €13.4m last year. The company's turnover fell by 10.6% to €266.1m.
Eason chairman James Osborne said: "Against the backdrop of a very challenging economic and trading environment, Eason has made significant progress during the year on the rollout of its strategy to make the business more resilient and competitive." The company's bank borrowings were reduced to nil by the year-end.
In the Republic of Ireland, Eason saw its turnover fall by 4.6% to €117.7m, excluding its Dublin Airport units, against a total market fall of 10%. Sales from Terminal One in Dublin Airport fell by 36% to €10.7m due to the movement of Aer Lingus and long-haul flights to Terminal Two, where Eason has no outlets. Four new franchise stores opened over the year, helping to offset the decline.
Eason will present its results to shareholders at its a.g.m. on 26th June. The company reached agreement with staff on 150 redundancies in February, after long negotiations with union Siptu, as part of a cost reduction programme.