DENIS DESMOND’S Gaiety Investments saw its operating profits surge 29.6% for the year to the end of March 2004, as sales jumped almost three-fold, buoyed by the acquisition of MCD Management Services from Desmond and his wife Caroline Downey.

Operating earnings for the company behind MCD and DF Concerts in Scotland, the music promotors, rose to €6.1m from €4.7m, while turnover soared to €37.6m from €13m, according to its latest filed accounts.

This earnings boost more than offset a 91% spike in administrative expenses during the year to €10.3m.

The company, which owns the Gaiety and Olympia theatres and has a 50% stake in Abrakebabra, the restaurant chain, saw wages increase 11% to €2.9m as the number of employees rose to 218 from 193. Desmond and Downey were not paid salaries.

Net debt at Gaiety Investments had widened to €32.9m from €19.2m at the year-earlier period. Interest paid on bank debt rose to €1.7m from €953,975. Cash stood at €3.1m.

The group’s tax bill amounted to €959,918, about 60% higher than for fiscal 2003, resulting in a net profit of €4.7m, compared with €1m.

Gaiety Investments and American group Clear Channel Entertainment agreed last month to take over Mean Fiddler, Vince Power’s music promoter which runs the Leeds and Reading music festivals and has a minority stake in the Glastonbury festival. The deal, which valued the group at £37.9m (€54.9m), is being probed by UK regulators.