Profits surge at Mercer Ireland to €51.8m as revenues top €210m

CONSULTANCY firm, Mercer last year saw a 20pc increase in pre-tax profits, rising to €51.8m on the back of a jump in revenues.

New accounts show that revenue at Mercer Ireland Holdings went up by 13pc to €210.38m from €186.77m.

The 497 staff at Mercer are well rewarded for their work with average pay totalling €90,790 for the year.

The total payroll to staff of €45.12m does not include Mercer’s pension costs of €4.2m or ‘other staff costs’ of €6.33m.

Six directors acted for the firm during the year, Vincent Sheridan, Tom Geraghty, Mary O’Malley, Donal O’Flaherty along with Simon O’Regan and Fiona Dunsire. Directors’ pay last year totalled €1.39m. That figure included pension payments of €76,690.

Mr O’Flaherty and Mr Geraghty stepped down from the board this year while Ms Dunsire resigned from the board in August 2018.

A breakdown of the numbers employed show that Mercer has 71 employed in management and 426 in administration and professional staff.

According to the directors’ report, the directors were “happy” with the performance of the group.

The directors reported that the 13pc increase in revenues was driven by a strong increase in assets under management.

The firm last year paid dividends of €55.5m to its parent company and this followed three subsidiaries declaring dividends of €26.1m during the year and €29.38m of dividends declared in 2017.

The principal activity of the group consists of the provision of actuarial, human resource, investment consulting advice and related services.

The group also operates as a fiduciary manager for the entire Mercer group’s European business.

The directors said that the €13.1m increase in operating costs was driven by the increase in sub-investment manager fees.