Luxury continues to profit

Purveyors of luxury goods have enjoyed a profitable year as emerging markets boomed. Luxury department store group Harvey Nichols is no exception. It saw its pre-tax profits almost double to £6 million over the year to 1 April 2006 despite costs of £1 million related to the opening of a new store in Dublin . Sales rose to £151 million, up from £147 million the year before. Like-for-like sales gained 10 percent. The privately-held group said that profits had been considerable despite the dip in sales at its Knightsbridge store following the London terrorist attacks in July last year. The group's regional stores in Leeds, Manchester and Edinburgh saw profits rise £1 million to £25 million on sales of £51.7 million. Staff number in the division had increased from 743 to 755, causing wages to rise to £8.9 million from £8.6 million.

The group's international division, with stores in Dublin , Riyadh , Hong Kong, Dubai and Istanbul , also experienced considerable growth. The Dublin and Istanbul stores are the most recent additions, with Istanbul having been opened in October. Last year, Harvey Nichols announced its plans to increase the number of UK stores to six with an opening in Bristol in the pipeline for 2008.