The Irish arm of French sports retailer Decathlon saw a jump in profits last year ahead of the opening of its new flagship store at the revamped Clerys Quarter on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in 2024.
Turnover at Decathlon Sports Ireland – the entity behind the group’s main European supply centre in Ballymun, Dublin 11, as well as the trading company for its stores in the Republic – was down slightly to €7.46 billion in 2023 from almost €7.48 billion in 2022, accounts filed in Dublin this week reveal.
A spokeswoman for Decathlon said the turnover was slightly lower than the expected trajectory last year owing to reduced “European demand at retail level”.
Yet, the retailer’s stores in the Republic – where turnover jumped by more than 20 per cent to €46.5 million – outperformed Decathlon’s other markets in Europe and in the rest of the world over the period. Partially, the increase in turnover relates to the opening of Decathlon’s second Irish store at Parkway Retail Park in Limerick in May last year.
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In a note attached to the accounts, the directors of the company said Decathlon’s Irish sales were slightly lower than expected but described 2023 as a “milestone” year for its Irish retail project with the opening of the Limerick store. “Sales turnover ended up slightly below our expectations but our sales growth reached 20.8 per cent and we met our global result target,” they said.
Decathlon subsequently opened its third store in the Republic earlier this year at the new Clerys Quarter development on Dublin’s O’Connell Street. The French-owned group took the place of Mike Ashley’s Flannels brand, which pulled out of the venture last year, as the joint anchor retail tenant in the old department store alongside H & M.
In January, the retailer announced it had taken a 30-year lease on the 2,787 sq m (30,000 sq ft) unit, which it then opened in July.
Decathlon is now competing directly in the city centre with Mr Ashley’s Sports Direct brand, which operates from the former Boyers department store building off O’Connell Street on North Earl Street.
A spokeswoman said the decision to take the lease on the Clerys unit has “enforced our presence in Ireland”.
Despite the slight decline in overall turnover last year, after-tax profits at Decathlon Sports Ireland climbed to €44.4 million, up from just €17.9 million in 2022, mostly due to a foreign exchange loss in the previous trading year, which largely reversed in 2023.
The directors of Decathlon said turnover was “not at the expected level last year” and the group’s net margin followed the same trend. “However, financial costs were not impacting Irish activities at the same level as last year, allowing us to improve our net result,” they said.
Before the pandemic, Decathlon had said it was targeting nine physical stores in Ireland, including additional sites in Dublin. On Tuesday, a spokeswoman said the retailer “will continue to expand within the Irish market in the coming years”.
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