Pub owner pay rises 381% to €2.28m

Louis and Helen Fitzgerald gave themselves a four-fold pay increase last year to €2.28m as pre-tax profits flowed once again at their Dublin-based pub and hotel group.

New accounts filed by Ocsas Holdings Ltd show that the Louis Fitzgerald pub, restaurant and hotel group recorded a pre-tax profit of €1.56m in the 12 months to the end of last June, after sustaining a pre- tax loss of €50.4m in 2010.

The loss in 2010 occurred after the firm booked a €53.3m write-down in fixed assets and work in progress.