Star’s profits jump by 55%

INDEPENDENT Star Limited, publishers of the Daily Star Newspaper, saw a 55% rise in pre-tax profits last year.

The company posted profits of €3.38 million for the year to December 27, 2002, up from €2.18m the previous year.

The accounts do not give the company’s turnover, but it’s is in the region of €60m.

According to accounts, which were filed at the Companies Registration Office recently, Independent Star paid its owners a dividend of €3.2 million, up from €2.6m in 2001.

The Daily Star is jointly owned by Tony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media and London’s Daily Star newspaper, which is owned by adult magazine and internet content publisher Richard Desmond.

The wages and salary bill for the company came to €3.8m, giving an average annual salary for the Star’s 75 workers of just over €51,000.

The company increased its workforce in 2002 and it has risen this year since the launch of a Sunday version of the paper.

The company’s directors saw their pay rise, from €333,611 in 2001 to €370,253 last year.