Hong Kong, China, and Stockholm, Sweden (FT.com) -- Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer, has publicly disclosed its profits for the first time in an effort to rid itself of a reputation of being highly secretive.
The family owned, unlisted Swedish retailer said on Friday that the group's net profit had risen 11.3 per cent to €2.5bn ($3.4bn) in the 2009 financial year compared with the previous year.
The group's sales weathered the global economic downturn to rise 1.4 per cent to €21.8bn during the period. Sales recovered strongly in the 2010 financial year, rising 7.7 per cent to €23.1bn.
Net income has consistently stayed between 10 and 13 per cent of revenue over the past 10 years, according to the company. The proportion of sales in North America was 15 per cent last year, in Asia it was 6 per cent while sales in Europe dominated at 79 per cent.
The company, which employs 127,000 employees, said it paid €384m in tax in 2009. Operating income rose 4.4 per cent to €2.77bn while its assets totalled €37bn.
CNN
