Power City owners reap €3m dividend

THE company behind the Power City chain paid another €3m dividend to the McKenna family last year as the owners continued to benefit from the company’s solid performance.

Newly-filed accounts for the business also show the company made a €10m pension fund contribution in the 12 months to the end of last September.

The accounts also show the retailer’s turnover edged 1.5pc higher in its last financial year to €89.1m. Its operating profit slipped, however, to €6.7m from €6.8m.

Its pre-tax profit was €6.2m in the 12 months to the end of last September. The business had seen a surge in pre-tax profits in the 2018 financial year, when the figure soared 22pc.

At the time the latest set of accounts were signed off at the end of February, Power City directors said they were reviewing a number of capital projects for 2020 and 2021.

The company operates from 11 stores, most of them in the greater Dublin area and employs about 250 people.

Due to Covid-related restrictions, its stores are currently open for customer service and online collections.

Power City is controlled by Dermot McKenna Jnr, Liam McKenna Jnr, Aidan McKenna, Colin McKenna, Sinead McKenna and Stephen McKenna.

The 2019 accounts also show that Power City had shareholder funds of €97.7m at the end of last September.

It generated net cash of €6m from its operations during the financial year and had €32.7m in cash at the end of last September.

It owns much of its property portfolio, with its freehold property assets valued at €57.2m last year. Its total tangible fixed assets were valued at €67.3m.

Power City operates in a sector that not only includes online competitors such as Amazon, but also chains such as Currys, DID Electrical and Harvey Norman.