Ikea profits climb 3.1% in fiscal year

STOCKHOLM — Ikea Group posted record fiscal year profit, pointing to a recovery in consumer spending, and strong growth in the United States, Russia and China.

Reuters reported net profit for the retail home furnishings giant increased 3.1% to the equivalent of $4.51 billion for the 12 months ending Aug. 31.

"Consumers have become more and more confident and have started to shop a bit more and open their wallets a bit more often," IKEA Group CEO Peter Agnefjall told reporters, according to Reuters.

He said the company wants to reach sales of 50 billion euros ($68.37 billion) by 2020, up from 27.9 billion euros in the 2013 financial year, the report said. Sales for the past year increased 3.1 percent and same-store sales were up 1.8%.

"We had the third strongest growth last year in the United States," Agnefjall said in the report. "If you just look at the number of stores in Europe, then of course we still have big potential to grow in the United States."

Ikea has 50 North American stores, including 38 in the United States.