Savills directors’ pay soars 102% to €4.87m

The good times are back for executives at one Dublin-based property firm, with directors having a doubling in average pay in one year to almost €290,000.

New figures show that the 17 directors who served with Savills Commercial (Ireland) Ltd were paid an aggregate €4.876m in 2013 or on average of €286,866 each, including pension payments.

The directors’ remuneration is made up of €4.52m in pay and €353,961 in pension contributions.

The pay to the 17 directors, disclosed in accounts just filed to the Companies Office, represents a 102% rise on the €2.4m 17 directors got in 2012.

The pay in 2013 brought remuneration to directors at Savills’ Irish operation almost back to pre-recession levels.

The figures for 2007 show over 15 months, 26 directors who served received aggregate pay of €9.86m that equates to €303,447 per annum.

In addition to the €9.86m in salaries, directors also received €2.75m in pension contributions.

The directors were richly rewarded in 2013 for overseeing rapid growth in the firm against the background of a strong recovery in the commercial property sector in Dublin.

In 2013, pre-tax profits at the firm rose 90% to €2.7m as revenues went up 49% from €13.65m to €20.36m.

Numbers employed rose from 139 to 200. A spokesman for Savills Commercial in Dublin said yesterday that the rise in pay for directors in 2013 “came from a low base” and said directors had taken a 30% reduction in pay during the downturn.