Pre-tax profit at Mercer Ireland climbs to €25m

The pre-tax profits of the consultancy firm that carried out a report on the pay at Irish banks almost tripled last year to €24.89m.

New accounts filed by Mercer Ireland Holdings Ltd show the group recorded the large profits jump, as revenues increased by 17.5%, from €114.5m to €134.6m, in 2014.

Numbers employed at Mercer Ireland fell from 481 to 439, with average pay totalling €82,979.

A breakdown of the numbers shows that Mercer has 60 employed in management, and 379 in administration and professional roles.

The directors’ report says a €20m increase in revenues followed “new client service offerings.” It adds: “The group continues to carefully manage costs, with staff costs down by €1m on 2013.”

It said an increase in operating costs, of €5.4m, mainly reflects fund-management fees paid to sub-advisers of the fiduciary management business, “which continues to grow strongly.”

The company received a €500,000 dividend from a subsidiary during the year, which “was subsequently paid as a capital contribution to another subsidiary company.

“Subsequent to the year end, the company received additional capital from its ultimate parent company and paid capital contributions, to a subsidiary company, of €4.55m,” says the reports.

Last year, Finance Minister Michael Noonan confirmed that Mercer received €146,370 for its review of the remuneration practices and frameworks at the financial institutions.