THE FORMER chief executive of the Irish Stock Exchange, Tom Healy, received "termination payments" of €520,000 when he retired from the business last year, new filings indicate.

The 2007 annual report of the stock exchange company, which shows that investment losses of €11.04 million eliminated operating profits of €10.75 million, records the payments in the section on directors' remuneration.

The exchange incurred a net loss of €69,000 last year, down from a net profit of €17.68 million in 2006.

While the annual report does not name Mr Healy, who had been in the position for more than 20 years, he is understood to have been the recipient of the termination payments. He was appointed director general of the Abu Dhabi securities market last September.

The sum of €520,000 was included in a sum of €812,000, which was described in the accounts as termination payments and completion bonuses. The accounts do not name the recipient or recipients of the completion bonuses.

The accounts for the stock exchange, filed this week with the Companies Office, attributed its investment losses to volatility on equity markets, particularly in the last three months of 2007, and to the policy of marking investments to market.

"The investments held by the company are long-term in nature and the company is confident that the book losses incurred will be more than recovered in the long term," the accounts state.

Gross operating income rose 19 per cent to €30.31 million, mainly due to listing-fee income from debt instruments. Administration expenses rose 28 per cent to €19.56 million.

Mr Healy's successor, Deirdre Somers, said last month that the issuance of new securities this year was down 30-35 per cent as a result of the credit crunch.

That trend would cut the exchange's gross annual income by 20 per cent if it continued and reduce operating profits by a similar amount, she said.