Shannon Foynes Port Company's profits hit by High Court settlement with its CEO

The port company’s profits were hit last year following the High Court judgment that Mr Keating be paid €373,339 in unpaid bonuses and interest from 2010 to 2017. Picture: Dan Linehan

Pre-tax profits at the Shannon Foynes Port Company were last year hit by a €373,339 High Court ‘unpaid bonus’ settlement with its own CEO Patrick Keating.

New accounts show that pre-tax profits at Shannon Foynes Port Company last year fell by 20% from €5.26m to €4.23m. This followed revenues dipping marginally from €16.01m to €15.89m.

The port company’s profits were hit last year following the High Court judgment that Mr Keating be paid €373,339 in unpaid bonuses and interest from 2010 to 2017.

In the High Court ruling, Mr Justice Mark Sanfrey ruled that a failure by the port company directors to use their discretion to pay the bonus “constitutes a breach by the company of the contract which has caused damage and loss to Mr Keating”.

Ms Justice Sanfrey stated that the company board exercised its discretion not to discharge Mr Keating’s Performance Related Pay “…only because of the instructions of the shareholder…” as it was the Government Minister’s position that PRP should not be discharged to CEOs of commercial semi-state companies.

Mr Justice Sanfrey granted judgement in the amount of €297,863 and the port company’s annual report says that the €373,339 total is inclusive of Courts Act interest.

Mr Keating was appointed interim CEO in 2006 and was assigned to the position in 2008 on a permanent basis. The case was heard in the High Court in 2021 and that coincided with the port company incurring legal costs of €225,460 concerning a High Court case with an employee.

Mr Keating's pay last year was €178,125, made up of salary of €117,500, and pension contributions and other emoluments of €60,625.

In his attached report on the port firm’s 2022 performance, Mr Keating said that while there was some contraction from the record 2021 financial performance “we are nevertheless delighted to report very robust earnings for the year”.

He said: “For only the second year in its history, the company recorded EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortisation) surpassing €7m and net cash from operations surpassing €6.5m.”

The company paid a €400,000 dividend in 2022—the highest ever paid out by the company. The port company’s revenues declined after tonnage throughputs contracted by 10.5% from 11 million to 9.8 million tonnes.

Numbers employed remained at 51 and staff costs last year totalled €4.46m—staff pay included performance-related payments of €213,978 and overtime of €110,977. Numbers earning over €100,000 came to seven, including four earning between €125,000 and €150,000. Key management personnel shared pay of €711,213, including €119,105 in post-employment benefits.

The profit last year takes account of combined non-cash amortisation and depreciation costs of €3.32m.

At the end of December last year, the port company had shareholder funds of €58.85m that included accumulated profits of €31.75m. The port company’s cash funds reduced from €11.25m to €5.93m.