By John Glenday

Ikea’s profits have been held as flat as its furniture, despite rising sales, as increased competition forced the retailer to slash prices and invest in staff.

Net profit held steady at €3.3bn for the 12 months to August 2014 even as sales rose 5.9 per cent to hit €28.7bn, driven by growth in China, Russia and Hungary. Online growth also continued apace with Ikea.com recording 1.5bn visits.

The Swedish chain’s largest markets were Germany, France, US, Russia and the UK.

Ikea chief executive Peter Agnefjall said: “A key factor to our strong performance is that we have a long-term view and we don’t Read full story ›

Source: The Drum