Hit musicals help double Really Useful profits

Published Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 15:25 by Alistair Smith

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful organisation has recorded profits of nearly £22 million for 2006/7 - more than doubling the level achieved in the previous year’s accounts.

Really Useful Holdings Limited - the parent organisation for Lloyd Webber’s companies including the Really Useful Group, which operates his theatres and owns the copyrights to his musicals - has reported a total operating profit of £21.9 million, thanks in part to “strong production income from copyright and rights exploitation as well as strong trading results from the theatres”.

During the year, Lloyd Webber’s London Palladium was host to his production of The Sound of Music, while Monty Python’s Spamalot played at the Palace Theatre and The Producers was staged at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This meant that the impresario’s three largest fully-owned venues were all occupied by successful shows.

The theatre operation reported a turnover of £117.5 million, up from £58.9 million in 2005/6.

Meanwhile, Lloyd Webber himself was paid £8.3 million in composer royalties by the company, down by around £1 million from the previous year’s sum.

The company’s full accounts were filed this month with Companies House.