PROFITS AT a US-owned, Shannon-based aviation company rose by 24 per cent to $876.5 million last year even though turnover declined by 10 per cent

According to accounts just filed by GE Capital Aviation Funding to the Companies’ Office, the company’s profits were boosted by a dividend of $266.4 million received from Shannon subsidiary GE Capital Aviation Services Ltd last year.

The filings to the end of December last show that GE Capital Aviation Funding’s revenues declined by 10 per cent from $790 million to $711.7 million, while its operating profit also declined from $789.6 million to $710.9 million.

The company – controlled by US giant GE – has no staff and derives its income from interest receivable on inter-company balances, with its principal activity being the provision of group treasury services.

The figures show that the company last year paid $100.8 million on interest payable and similar charges. The firm paid corporation tax of $247,000 on its pretax profits of $876.5 million last year.

The directors state that “both the level of business and the year-end financial position were satisfactory, and the directors expect that the present level of activity will be sustained for the foreseeable future”.

The accounts show that the company had accumulated profits of $3.7 billion at the end of last year, with total shareholders’ funds totalling $18 billion.

The accounts list 18 wholly-owned subsidiaries in Ireland, France, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Malaysia, Bermuda, India, Russia and Brazil.