Monsoon pre-tax profits triple

As a result of this increase Monsoon founder Peter Simon has paid himself a £16.4m dividend, up from the £14.7m dividend he collected last year.

The retailer, which also owns fashion accessories chain Accesorize, said turnover increased almost 4% to £561.7m, up from £540.3m in 2009.

Monsoon said it “had a successful trading period faced with a difficult and unpredictable economy”, which was driven by a strong performance overseas with international, excluding the UK, up to £48.2m from £32.2m the previous year. Monsoon trades in 62 countries worldwide.

The retail chain said it would “continue to consolidate and improve its UK store portfolio and web offering, using internally generated funds”. Its main strategy will be to invest in the Monsoon brand and improve and extend its product ranges.

Two weeks ago Monsoon, which owns 133 Monsoon stores, 152 Accessorize stores and 114 dual-site stores in the UK, kicked off a brand revamp designed to get back to its ethnic-inspired roots, with a re-fit of its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street. Design and buying director Shailina Parti said Monsoon had “lost its personality in recent years” and the revamp was designed to help it “get back to its heritage”.

Monsoon was launched in London’s Notting Hill in 1972 and was taken private by founder Simon in 2007.