The Lewis Trust Group, the owner of the River Island fashion chain and a host of hotel and property investments, distributed a massive £611m dividend last year.
The bumper payout was revealed in accounts just filed at Companies House for the year ended 31 December 2009.
Around £20m of the dividend – which returned after being scrapped in 2008 – will be shared between the group’s 25 shareholders.
This includes Lewis family members, 84-year old Bernard, 56-year old Leonard, 48-year old Simon and 43-year old Benjamin Lewis.
The remainder has been transferred to another wholly-owned family parent company, called L51N, and will be reinvested back into the group.
The dividend was made despite the group posting a drop in pretax profits for the third year in a row.
Profits dropped to £60m in the year under review, 44% down on 2008.
The Lewis Trust’s property division recorded a loss of £16m, down from a £4m profit recorded in 2008.
The hotels and investment and finance divisions posted similar losses to 2008 of £30m and £29m respectively.
The River Island business performed much better, posting a pretax profit of £136m, although this was down on the £160m achieved the previous year.
Turnover broke through the £1bn market during the period, with the retail business providing £826m of revenues.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
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