No final whistle on Brian O’Driscoll’s earning potential

Accumulated profits at the main firm owned by rugby icon Brian O’Driscoll soared last year by €339,705 to a whopping €3.526m.

Separate accounts just filed also show that O’Driscoll’s former Ireland team-mate, Johnny Sexton, didn’t fare too badly either last year. He recorded a doubling in profits to over €430,000 as he reaped the benefits of his money-spinning move to Paris.

O’Driscoll may have walked away from a lucrative playing contract with Ireland and Leinster this year with his emotional retirement from rugby, but he can console himself with building a large cash pile over his glittering career as he faces into his non-playing days.

Along with the sharp rise in profits, the cash pile at his firm stood at €1.3m at August 30.

The new accounts just filed with the Companies Office by his firm, ODM & Promotions Ltd, show that the cash pile increased by €177,031, going from €1.195m to €1.372m

During the same period, O’Driscoll’s accumulated profits increased from €3.196m to €3.526m.

The figures show that the value of the firm’s investment reduced from €2m to €1.6m and that may be explained by O’Driscoll cashing in on investments over the year.

O’Driscoll established the firm in 2001 when he was 22, as part of his bid to capitalise on being the most marketable Irish player of the modern rugby era. His father Frank is a director. Now aged 35, O’Driscoll is about to embark on separate media projects, where he will contribute to Newstalk here in Ireland, while he has also signed a deal with BT Sport in Britain.

The decorated centre is to be a rugby analyst for BT Sport’s rugby coverage and also be a rugby ambassador for the station.

O’Driscoll will also be able to avail of the Government’s scheme that allows retired sports stars to claim back a 40% tax deduction on their gross earnings from sports activity over a 10-year period.

That includes wages and match bonuses, but does not include sponsorship money, payments for writing media columns, or fees for appearing in advertisements.

The scheme costs the Government €300,000 per annum to operate.

O’Driscoll’s former Leinster and Ireland team-mate, Johnny Sexton, 29, is at the earning peak of his playing career, and accounts lodged with the Companies Office show that the firm’s profits jumped by more than €250,000, from €225,519 to €476,099 last year.

A relative latecomer to the international scene, Sexton is making up for lost time in the earning stakes with the hike in profits coinciding with Sexton signing a contract with Racing Metro in Paris last year on a reported contract of €750,000 per annum.

The jump in profits at JAS Management & Promotions Ltd last year compares to an increase of €94,490 in 2012.

The figures for Sexton’s firm show that its cash pile increased four-fold, from €81,762 to €334,342. The money owed to the firm by debtors also increased sharply going from €83,025 to €138,000.

Sexton’s wife Laura and father Jerry also sit on the board of the firm.