ELECTRICAL retailer Power City has overcome faltering consumer confidence to report pretax profit up by over 30% in the year to the end of September 2002.

Famous or infamous for rapid-fire in-house advertisements voiced by red-jumpered employees, the company reported pre-tax profit of more than 11m for the year, up from 8.4m in the previous year.

It reported retained profit for the year of 8.4m and total retained profit of 26.9m.

Power City's owners, the Dublin-based McKenna family, took a dividend of 737,000 on their shares last year, more than treble the dividend for the year to the end of September 2001.

The retailing group has been on a rapid growth track for the past five years. Last year, it turned over 88m, which was an increase of 7% on the previous year.

Since 1998, its turnover has risen by 26.4m, with pre-tax profit increasing by 8.1m over the same period. At the end of last year, it had net assets of over 28m, with its freehold premises at Sallynoggin, Finglas and Tallaght carried on a 1996 valuation of under 4m.

Selling everything from washing machines to strimmers, and open seven days a week, the company promises that "unless we beat any advertised price your purchase is free".

It has not needed to go outside Dublin to find takers for this promise. The six stores in the empire are in Coolock, Finglas, Blanchardstown, Fonthill, Tallaght and Sallynoggin.

Power City's increase in profit last year came despite a 4.2m increase in the cost of sales.

The company employed an average of 203 employees during the year, an increase of just 10 on the previous year.