LEADING IRISH public relations agency Drury Communications paid a dividend of €1.49 million to its New York-based parent group Omnicom last year.

This is revealed in the company’s latest set of accounts, which also show a significant reduction in profitability as the recession hit Drury’s bottom line.

Drury recorded a pre-tax profit of €27,636 for the year to the end of December 2009 compared with a surplus of €406,502 in the previous 12-month period.

Drury managing director Anne-Marie Curran told The Irish Times that profits rebounded in the first six months of this year to €134,000.

Revenues of €3 million are also projected for 2010. “Our performance last year was very much in line with that of the industry,” Ms Curran said, “but profits are once again on an upward trajectory and we’re very happy with the performance so far this year.”

Drury paid tax of €14,056 in 2009. Coupled with the dividend payment to Omnicom, this left the PR agency with a loss for the year of €1.47 million.

The dividend payment resulted in Drury’s shareholder funds being reduced to €2.86 million at the end of 2009 from €4.34 million a year earlier. No dividend was paid to Omnicom in 2008.

Drury has added a number of new clients to its roster this year, including fast-food giant McDonald’s, insurer RSA, electricity transmission group Eirgrid and cross-Border body InterTradeIreland.