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Waterstones in Ireland made a loss after tax of €12.9m up to April last year, as sales fell by 8.8% to €19.8m (£16.6m), according to results filed at Companies House in Ireland and subsequently reported in the Irish Independent. The losses predate the acquisition of Waterstones by Alexander Mamut last June.
The filing states: "The operating result was a profit before exceptional items of €nil, down from a profit of €0.3m in the prior year, largely reflecting the sales decline".
Waterstones' Irish arm reported that during the 53 weeks to 30th April 2011 it incurred exceptional operating costs of €13.1m (£10.9m), including store closure and pension scheme settlement costs. During the period the bookselling chain’s former parent, the HMV Group, closed two of its three branches in Dublin, resulting in 46 redundancies. Waterstones’ Hodges Figgis store is now the book chain's only store in the city.
When Mamut's A&NN Group bought Waterstones from the HMV Group in June 2011 it was acquired on a “debt and cash-free basis", according to the filing.
During the year up to 30th April 2011, the HMV Group had identified various "key risks and uncertainties" to the bookselling chain, which included attracting, motivating and retaining key staff, growing new methods of digital delivery, the seasonality of the bookselling business and monitoring agreements with key suppliers.