Pat Kenny’s media firm returns to the black

THE media company owned by RTÉ star Pat Kenny returned to profit last year, accounts show.

According to abridged accounts just filed by Pat Kenny Media Services Ltd to the Companies Office, the company had accumulated profits of €21,506 at the end of June last.

This compares to a deficit of €107,315 at the end of June 2009 — showing a positive swing of €128,821 in the 12 months.

The return in profit comes in spite of The Frontline presenter taking a significant salary cut in 2009 to €630,000 from the €950,956 earned in 2008.

This followed Mr Kenny — who is not a staff member at RTÉ, but works under contract — stepping down as host of the Late Late Show in 2009.

Last year, in a newspaper interview, Mr Kenny, who also presents a daily weekday current affairs show on RTÉ Radio One, said that his earnings “are back to 2002 pay levels. I’m not sure if anyone else is down to 2002”.

Mr Kenny, 63, described the salaries of the station’s broadcast stars as “trivial” compared to those paid to professional footballers.

“I often wonder why there isn’t the same fuss over the salaries paid to footballers like John O’Shea earning more in three weeks than Marian Finucane earns in a year,” he said.

“There is a double standard there. These people put themselves on the line, they entertain the nation week in, week out, and yet they are paid a trivial amount compared to footballers.”

Figures for Pat Kenny Media Services Ltd show that cash held by the company fell to €177,241 last year from €235,830 the previous year.

The figures show that the company paid off a bank loan of €291,722 during the year.

As a result, the monies owed to creditors declined from €350,094 to €179,501.

Taxes and social security payments made by Pat Kenny Media Services increased last year from €46,291 to €62,679, according to the accounts.

The company’s two directors, Kenny and his wife Kathy, had outstanding loans owned to them from the company of €23,890 at the financial year-end.

Earlier this year, The Frontline attracted a record audience of in excess of one million viewers for the leaders’ debate in the run-up to the general election.