€526k payout to former manager hits firm’s profits

A payout of more than €500,000 to former Ireland manager of Alcatel Lucent Kevin O’Callaghan and exceptional costs contributed to the firm slipping into the red last year.

The 57-year-old stepped down from the top job at the Irish arm of the French-owned telecommunications giant at the end of December last year and new accounts show that director Mr O’Callaghan received €526,237 to compensate him for his loss of office.

The payment to Mr O’Callaghan contributed to the Dublin-based Alcatel Lucent Ireland Ltd recording a pre-tax loss of €3.66m that followed the firm recording a pre-tax profit of €2.28m in 2011.