Norton's salary boosted by So TV

Television presenter Graham Norton (BBC)

Graham Norton earned more than £4.5m last year after profits from the production company he founded boosted his BBC salary.

The presenter who has a £2m-a-year pay deal with the BBC, took home an additional £2.5m from So Television, which makes programmes including his BBC1 series The Graham Norton Show.

Norton earned £2.15m in "production fees and royalties" from So Television in the 12 months to 31 July 2011, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The payout was a 40 per cent increase on the £1.54m he received for those services in the previous year.

Norton, who co-founded So with producer Graham Stuart in 2000, was also paid a £400,000 dividend by the company, taking his total payment to £2.55m, a 28 per cent increase on the previous year.

So Television, which employs 23 staff, reported a revenue increase of 37 per cent from £8.7m to £11.9m. Its success last year came from expansion in production and distribution of programmes, including Pixelface, a children's sitcom made for CBBC.

Norton's chat show has turned down a request by Sacha Baron Cohen to appear because he refused to be interviewed as himself, rather than in the character of his latest comic film, fictional dictator Admiral General Aladeen.