A company set up by Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson made a of profit of almost £600,000 last year.
Clarkson, who is close to signing a new contract to continue fronting the hit BBC2 motoring show with Richard Hammond and James May, increased shareholder funds in his company, Newincco 1189, from £673,919 to £1.2m in the year to 31 May 2014.
The company was set up in 2012, just before Clarkson and Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman were bought out of another company called Bedder 6, a joint venture between the pair and BBC Worldwide that controlled the commercial rights to Top Gear. BBC Worldwide held a 50% stake while Clarkson and Wilman shared the remainder. It is not known how much the pair were paid for their Bedder 6 stakes.
In its first year Clarkson’s new company had £2.2m cash at bank and in hand. After £1.5m went to an undisclosed creditor, it finished the 2013 financial year with a profit of £673,919.
It is not known how much, if any, of the fee he gets from the public wing of the BBC and money from BBC Worldwide – the commercial arm of the corporation – goes into Newincco 1189.
In addition to his television work Clarkson writes newspaper columns and is an author.
When Clarkson and Wilman held their share of Bedder 6, they received an annual dividend, with Clarkson one year receiving a payout worth about £4.8m.
The BBC and a spokeswoman for Clarkson declined to comment.
