Company's profits increase by 30%

The Channel Islands' largest private-sector employer has announced its pre-tax profits have gone up by more than 30%.

CI Traders' pre-tax profits for 2004 increased by more than £3m to £14.8m.

The company said they had risen because of a drop in spending and despite falls in profits in its French businesses.

The CI Traders group includes Le Riche supermarkets and the Marks & Spencer franchise in Jersey, as well as other businesses in the UK and France.

Group Chairman Tom Scott said he was hopeful of healthy returns on shareholders' dividends.