Ireland’s top 1,000 companies: One hugely profitable firm out in front as Big Tech dominates

Big tech dominates the Top 1,000 rankings of companies published by The Irish Times on Thursday, with Apple once again leading the way in turnover and profits, albeit with lower numbers in both cases.
The iPhone maker recorded revenue of just under €200 billion in the year to September 24th, 2023, down 10 per cent on the previous 12 months. Apple’s Irish operations posted profits of just under €65 billion, down from €69.5 billion a year earlier.
The company’s huge profitability is thought to be one of the key factors behind the surge in Irish corporation tax revenues in recent years. Earlier this week, the EU’s top court sided with the European Commission in its bid to make Apple pay €13 billion in back taxes to the Republic, delivering a significant legal defeat to the Irish Government and the US tech giant.
In terms of turnover, Google reclaimed second spot, leapfrogging Microsoft, with turnover of €72.6 billion (up 12 per cent), and profits of almost €2 billion for the year to the end of June 2022. The search engine giant, however, saw its profits fall almost 30 per cent to just under €2 billion.
Microsoft was third with revenues of €63.8 billion, down from €65.4 billion a year earlier, while Meta’s Irish operation recorded income of €58 billion for fourth spot. Meta is the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Pharmaceutical group Pfizer was the only new entrant into the top 10, rising from 16th spot the previous year, with revenues of €53.3 billion and profits of €965 million for the year to the end of December 2023. Pfizer’s elevation pushed Dell Ireland out of the top 10, with the technology group slipping to 13th place this year with revenues of €15.4 billion, down from €16.2 billion a year earlier.
The top 10 is dominated by the local entities of big multinational companies. Just two were originally established in Ireland: building materials giant CRH (revenues of €31.9 billion and profits of €3.6 billion) and services group DCC (revenues of €23.2 billion and profits of €543 million). CRH last year moved its primary stock market listing to New York, quitting the Dublin market, although it continues to be domiciled in Ireland.
The top 10 was closed out by medical devices company Medtronic, which moved its global headquarters to Ireland in the past decade; Johnson Controls, which describes itself as a “world leader in smart buildings”; and power management systems manufacturer Eaton Corporation. Medtronic recorded the second-highest level of profits, behind Apple, at €4.4 billion.
[ EU top court ruling paves way for Apple to pay Ireland over €13bn in taxesOpens in new window ]
Elsewhere, the Central Bank of Ireland continued to top the financial ranking with assets of €184 billion, down €11 billion on a year earlier. It was followed by Bank of Ireland, Barclays Bank Ireland, Citibank and AIB. Sisk was the largest construction group with revenue of €2.5 billion, followed by Bam and John Paul Construction.
Musgrave (owner of SuperValu) was the biggest of the grocery chains with revenue of €4.7 billion, followed by Dunnes Stores and Tesco.
You can find more on Top 1000 here