| The Qatari owners of Harrods have banked a £117.6m dividend on the back of another year of brisk trade at the London department store. The famous Knightsbridge store was snapped up by Qatar Holding, the investment arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, in 2010 for an estimated £1.5bn. The retailer’s parent group paid the dividend to a Qatari offshore company based in the tax haven of Bermuda. In 2013 the owners drew a dividend of £68.6m.
Operating profits at the store, which is heavily reliant on the wealthy tourists who flock to the capital, increased 13% to £122.9m on record sales of £794m in the year to 1 February. It also paid an internal royalty fee of £35.6m, according to the accounts for the Harrods Limited subsidiary...............................................Full Article: Source |