A flood of good news for Monsoon

Fashion chain Monsoon has swept aside the high street gloom to record a sharp rise in profits, triggering a bumper pay-out for its founder.

The group, which also runs the Accessorize business, saw pre-tax profits rise to 98.2 million in the year to late August, up from 27.9m a year earlier, according to accounts filed with Companies House.

A strong performance from overseas stores, where like-for-like sales grew by 4.8 per cent, helped boost the bottom line. New sites were opened in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Washington during the year.

A dividend of 16.4m was paid out to shareholders, compared with 14.7m in 2009.

The bulk of the windfall is expected to have gone to Peter Simon - a former market stall holder who founded the company in 1973 - and his family. The accounts also show that turnover rose by almost 4 per cent to 561.7m.

Monsoon, which ranks as one of the UK's biggest privately-owned retailers, said it had enjoyed a successful year despite a "difficult and unpredictable economic environment".

Monsoon was launched in London's Notting Hill selling boho, Indian-inspired dresses.