Marian Finucane firm tops €1m in accumulated profit

Accumulated profit at the media firm owned by Marian Finucane last year topped €1m after jumping by more than €68,000.

The accounts for her Montrose Services Ltd show accumulated profits in the 12 months to the end of October came to €1,001,956. Ms Finucane hosts two popular radio shows.

The firm’s cash pile at the firm jumped by €42,900 from €394,444 to €437,344.

The accounts disclose that four people are employed by the firm in sales and administration with staff costs last year increasing from €126,249 to €134,087.

The employment costs are made up of €109,832 in wages; directors’ remuneration of €21,031, and social welfare costs of €3,224.

Ms Finucane doesn’t sit on the board and the board directors are listed as her husband John Clarke and son, Jack Clarke.

Pay to directors last year last year fell from €21,191 to €21,031.

The firm’s profit increase of €68,508 is marginally down on the increase of €80,432 in 2014 and slightly up on the profit rise of €62,103 recorded in 2013.

The rate of profit at the firm over the three years comes in spite of Ms Finucane sustaining cuts to her RTÉ salary in recent years.

The most recent salary figures released by RTÉ revealed she was the third highest-paid broadcaster in 2011, when she was paid €492,000.

Ms Finucane — who broadcasts four hours each week on RTÉ with her two weekend morning shows — earned €295,000 in her latest reported deal marking a cut of €197,000 in salary.

The drop in pay represented a 40% pay-cut. Her annual salary reached a peak with RTÉ in 2008 when she received €570,000.

The accounts show that the firm values Ms Finucane’s image rights at €600,000.

The most recent JNLR figures show that Ms Finucane’s Saturday show has an audience of 392,000 and her Sunday show attracts 328,000 listeners.

In a 2012 Newstalk interview, Ms Finucane said that her pay had “changed utterly” in the past few years.