Ikea profits slide on image problem
September 29th, 2006
“Ikea, the home furnishings retailer everyone appears to love to hate, has seen its profits in the UK plunge by a third.
The Swedish giant, which has been the subject of attacks from Government ministers over the construction of its stores and from unwilling shoppers who see it as a retail hell, said pre-tax profits for the year to last August dived to £104m. That is a drastic slide from the prior year when they leapt 15% to more than £150m.
The latest reporting period takes in Ikea’s disastrous opening of its Edmonton store in north London, where there were reports of shoppers acting like animals, with some hospitalised. Sales in the year rose marginally to £1.1bn. The company blamed the collapse in profits on one-off costs such as extending and rebuilding various
premises around the country…”
premises around the country…”
