Directors of Shannon arm of aircraft leasing firm share €11.2m payout

The 14 directors of the Irish arm of the world’s largest aircraft leasing firm last year shared a pay pot of $15.27m (€11.2m).

GE Capital Aviation Services Ltd (GECAS) is based at Shannon and new figures lodged with the Companies Office show that pre-tax profits at the firm last year reduced by 31% from $124.2m to $84.9m. The drop in pre-tax profits came in spite of revenues rising 18% from $218.8m to $260.1m in the 12 months to the end of last December. Operating profits increased more than sevenfold, from $4.1m to $31.79m.

The decrease in pre-tax profits is attributable to dividends received from five subsidiaries reducing from $122.5m to $48.1m. The accounts show that eight of the high-flying directors are Irish, with the average pay of $1.09m each.