Profits at Gay Byrne’s media firm hit €550,000

Ireland’s most celebrated broadcaster Gay Byrne has left his financial troubles well behind with him with accumulated profits at his media firm last year exceeding €550,000.

The filings lodged by Mr Byrne’s Gabbro Ltd with the Companies Office show that even in his 81st year and in semi-retirement, ‘Gabyo’ is running a very profitable media business through his work with RTÉ.

The new accounts show that profits at the firm in the eight months to the end of December rose €52,223 —going from €502,358 to €554,581.

This followed the firm recording an €87,571 jump in profit in the 12 months to the end of April 2014.

The accounts show that in the eight months to the end of December, the cash pile at the firm increased from €360,816 to €413,391.

In addition, the firm also had financial assets valued at €153,819.

Mr Byrne celebrated his 81st birthday on Wednesday and his broadcasting continues to make waves with his Meaning of Life interview on RTÉ with Stephen Fry earlier this yearin which the British comedian eloquently extolled his atheist views, generating just under 7m views on YouTube.

Mr Byrne presented the world’s longest running chat-show, the Late Late Show for 37 years before stepping down in 1999 at the age of 65.

The strong performance by Mr Byrne’s Gabbro in recent years follows the bust when his pension was wiped out.

His loss on his shares and investments was the second jolt to Mr Byrne’s personal finances.

In 1987, the Dubliner had to rebuild his finances after learning that his life’s savings entrusted to his friend, and accountant, the late Russell Murphy had disappeared and his losses from the episode are estimated to have been more than €200,000.

The filings for Gabbro Ltd — signed off by Mr Byrne and his wife Kathleen on July 31 — show that the firm’s total shareholder funds stood at €565,311.

The figures show that the firm’s financial investment reduced in value last year going down by €102 from €153,921 to €153,819.