Pre-tax earnings increased by 11.4% from £1.43 billion to £1.59 billion, according to data in the recently released Ulster Business Top 100 magazine. Revenues in that business elite cohort increased from £26.3 billion to £30.7 billion.

For more than 30 years, the list, which was released in collaboration with KPMG, has highlighted the success of the largest businesses from across Northern Ireland, ranked by turnover, using information from the most recent accounts submitted to Companies House.

The Top 100 list for this year includes twelve new companies, with grain and commodities company W&R Barnett once again at the top.

The family-run business, led by William Barnett, reported £1.57 billion in revenue and £69.1 million in pre-tax earnings for the fiscal year that ended in July 2022.

This year's list includes some new companies like MBNI Holdings, which sells trucks and vans, CDE Global, which has its headquarters in Co. Tyrone and manufactures processing equipment for the mining, quarrying, and recycling industries, and Wrightbus, a bus manufacturer based in Ballymena that is currently expanding and growing under new ownership.

We have long-held respect for the Ulster Business Top 100 magazine, according to Johnny Hanna, partner in charge of KPMG in Northern Ireland.

“It is evident from this year's rating that the top corporations share characteristics such as a desire for innovation and the capacity to offer innovative solutions to a global market.”

“We extend our congratulations to all of the listed firms. The Windsor Framework's provisions for dual market access and the potential to reduce Northern Ireland's corporate tax present considerable prospects, and we look forward to further collaboration with them and the larger business community.”

A total of 13 firms on the listing reported losses for the previous fiscal year, totalling £213 million.

The Top 100 Companies in Northern Ireland employ more than 102,000 people.

“The Top 100 list has again shown that our business landscape continues to highlight both healthy growth and resilience,” said Ulster corporate editor John Mulgrew.

“Given the sheer variety and wide breadth of firms making the Top 100 this year, we can see that the Northern Ireland business landscape is in a fairly healthy place from the companies topping the list, those rising up it, and the newcomers.”

This year's list was created by Jonathan Cushley, who noted that it “highlights a continued strengthening of their financial performance.”

It demonstrates improved performance and resiliency among some of our largest companies once more.