Ulster Business Top 100 shows sales are on the up for firms
NORTHERN Ireland’s biggest businesses have seen sales rising by more than 10% over the last year with four ranking turnover of over £1bn, it has been revealed.
The Ulster Business Top 100 Companies 2020 list with A&L Goodbody shows turnover has grown to £27.5bn from £24.9bn, across our largest businesses – up 10.4%. This year’s double-edition magazine is now out.
The list has showcased the performance of the biggest firms from right across Northern Ireland, ranked by turnover, for more than 30 years.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profits have also risen in line with sales — up around 10% across the companies on the list, when compared with year-on-year figures. Profitability increased from £935.6m to £1.03bn.
The majority of the company accounts cover 2019 and the end of 2018 so any impact from coronavirus and lockdown is not be reflected in the overall performances.
And poultry processing giant Moy Park has topped the list for the ninth year in a row, with turnover of £1.58bn, while pretax profits now sit at £70m.
There are around a dozen new entrants to this year’s list.
The new arrivals include World Travel Centre Ltd, Creagh Concrete Products Ltd and Morgan Fuels & Lubes Ltd.
Michael Neill, head of Belfast office at law firm A&L Goodbody, sponsor of the Top 100, said: “On behalf of all at A&L Goodbody, congratulations to each of this year’s Ulster Business Top 100 Companies.
“We wish you every success in the coming year as you embark upon your respective journeys to recovery post Covid-19.
“As an international law firm with offices in Belfast, Dublin, London and the US, we have been working closely with many of these Top 100 Companies in recent months, advising on both domestic and international matters impacted by Covid-19.
“We have been inspired not only by their drive and agility but, most of all, their resilience and determination to overcome adversity yet again.”
Ulster Business editor John Mulgrew said: “The performance of some of Northern Ireland’s leading firms continues to cement our position on the business map — especially given the wide breadth of companies which call here home.
“And while over the course of more than 30 years this list has been through the boom times, as well as tough periods following the 2008 recession, the next couple of years are likely to be the most difficult many of them have ever faced.
“But many of those companies on the list, and across Northern Ireland as a whole, have the resilience and the ability to weather such challenging times, and Ulster Business will be there as a guide along the way.”
Sales within the Top 100 have reached their highest recorded levels of £27.5bn up from a like for like figure of £24.9bn for the year before.
Another indicator of the strong sales performance across the listing is that just 19 of the companies have posted reduced sales year-on-year.
For the first time, four of the businesses posted sales in excess of £1bn, Moy Park Ltd retained its long-standing top spot, followed by W&R Barnett Ltd, Glen Electric Ltd and Dunbia Ltd — accounts for Glen Dimplex cover an 18-month period.
With a turnover of £27.5bn producing profits of £1,029m the companies produced a pretax margin of 3.7%.
A total of 104,210 people are employed by Northern Ireland’s Top 100 Companies, an increase on the 85,744 employed by the companies in the 2019 listing.
❝ We’ve been inspired by their determination to overcome adversity again