Big technology companies continued to dominate the Top 1,000 rankings of companies published by The Irish Times on Thursday, with Apple once again way out in front in terms of both turnover and profits.
The California-based iPhone maker recorded revenue of €205.4 billion in the year to September 28th, 2024, with profits of €70.6 billion. Apple employs about 6,000 people at its Irish operation and the company’s huge profitability has been a key factor behind the surge in Irish corporation tax revenues in recent years.
Google retained second spot with revenue of €77.3 billion while profits almost doubled on the previous year to €3.6 billion.
Microsoft reported higher profits at €3.95 billion while turnover rose by 14 per cent to just under €74 billion.
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In fourth spot was Meta, with the Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant recording profits of €1.85 billion on revenue of just under €70 billion (turnover was €58 billion in 2024).
Among other tech firms, LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, ranked 26th with revenues of €8.3 billion and profits of €395 million. Amazon Data Services, a data centre business, is 39th. The Jeff Bezos-founded company posted revenues of just over €6 billion but profits of just €15 million.
Pharma giant Pfizer breaks the tech monopoly, coming in fifth with revenues of €58.8 billion and profits of €7.4 billion.
The biggest domestic company, in sixth place, was once again building materials giant CRH, which is headquartered and tax domiciled in Ireland but listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Now led by Jim Mintern, the company posted profits of €4.1 billon on revenue of €32.9 billion last year.
The top 10 was closed out by medical devices company Medtronic, which moved its global headquarters to Ireland some years ago; Johnson Controls, which describes itself as a “world leader in smart buildings”; power management systems manufacturer Eaton Corporation, which moved up one spot to ninth; and DCC, an Irish company based in Dublin but listed on the London Stock Exchange, which dropped a place to 10th.
Among the financials, the Central Bank of Ireland continued to top the list with assets of €179 billion, which was down almost €5 billion on a year earlier.
Among the retail banks here, Bank of Ireland was ahead of AIB in terms of assets but the Colin Hunt-led lender posted higher profits.
Revolut makes the table for the first time, in 20th spot, with profits of €133 million and assets of €20.3 billion.
As the world’s biggest packaging group, Smurfit Westrock is placed 11th with revenues of €19.5 billion. Others to note in the top 20 are Guinness maker Diageo in 13th, Ryanair in 15th and gambling group Flutter in 18th spot.
You can also find the full list of this year’s Top 1000 companies in the Irish Times ePaper.
