THE PHARMACY retailer Boots made a profit of €15.9 million from its outlets in Ireland in the year to March 2011, when it increased its turnover by 0.6 per cent to €267.2 million.

In accounts just filed for Boots Retail Ireland Ltd, the company said that dispensing revenue increased ahead of the market but that retail revenue growth was depressed as difficult trading conditions continued.

The company paid a €11 million dividend to its parent, down from the €85 million it paid the previous year. The €15.9 million pretax profit compared with a comparable profit of €11 million the previous year. The company had shareholders’ funds of €117.6 million at year’s end.

The company employed an average of 1,371 people during the year, at a total cost of €49 million. The equivalent figures for the previous year were 1,332 and €51.37 million.

Boots, which first entered the Irish market in 1996, expanded its reach during the year, with three new outlets, bringing its Irish estate to 58. Since the end of the financial year, a further 12 stores have been opened.

The company had annual commitments under non-cancellable operating leases totalling €19.7 million in March 2011, of which €1.9 million were for between one and five years and €17.8 million were for more than five years.