As Business Plus takes a look at the top 10 Irish companies in 2021, it's on the back of a rollercoaster couple of years for Irish business, with some major names able to continue more or less uninhibited by Covid-19 while others such as Ryanair (revenues of €5.6bn in 2019-20) have had to lick their wounds.

This list, based on 2021 revenues, may look a little surprising because of the disruption caused by the pandemic, but it is still filled with companies enjoying significant success at home and, in many cases, abroad.

The list, however, excludes international companies or the Irish arms of multinationals that have located here for tax or other purposes. Even if they have relocated abroad through mergers, acquisitions or in pursuit of global reach, the firms here were all founded in Ireland.

1. CRH

Irish-founded building materials giant CRH made sales of $31bn (€30.4bn) and profit after tax of $2.6bn (€2.55bn) last year. The company now operates in 28 countries across North America, Europe and Australia and employs around 77,4000 people.

2. DCC

The sales, marketing and support services conglomerate with operations in energy, healthcare and technology brought in revenues of £13.4bn (€16bn) and profits after tax of £302m (€359m) in 2021, and now employs more than 13,600 people in 20 countries.

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3. Smurfit Kappa Group

Paper and packaging leader Smurfit Kappa brought in revenues of €10.1bn and profit before tax of €913m last year and employs 48,000 people across 350 production sites in 36 countries.

4. Dole (Total Produce)

Irish fruit and vegetable group Total Produce took the more illustrious name of Dole when the two companies merged. Total Produce made revenues of €6.3bn and profits of €116m in 2020, which rose to $9.3bn (€9.1bn) and $394m (€387m) last year post-merger.

5. Ardagh Group

Now based in Luxembourg and listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Dublin-founded glass and metal products producer Ardagh Group made revenues of $7.6bn (€7.5bn) and a loss of $766m (€754m) due to exceptional items last year, with 17,700 staff at 58 sites in 12 countries.

6. Kerry Group

Kerry Group, the Irish food and ingredients multinational, brought in improve revenues of €7.4bn and a trading profit of €876m in 2021 and now employs more than 22,000 people, including 1,100 R&D scientists at 152 locations in 36 countries.

7. Flutter

The Paddy Power owner has ploughed ahead with expansion as gambling has been legalised in lucrative markets such as the US, and the UK-based Flutter reported revenues of just over £6bn (€7.2bn) and earnings of £723m (€861m) in 2021

8. Kingspan

Revenues at Cavan building materials group Kingspan rose 42% to €6.5bn while trading profit rose 49% to €755m last year, and the company now has a headcount of some 19,000 at 198 sites in 70 countries.

9. ESB

The state-owned energy provider made an operating profit of €266m revenues of €5.4bn in 2021 and now employs 7,870, and the group now has total assets of nearly €16bn against net debt of just under €5bn.

10. Musgrave

The SuperValu and Centra owner and wholesaler hasn't yet released its 2021 results, but the group made a profit of €99m as sales rose 13.6% to €4.5bn in 2020 when consumers turned to supermarkets in their droves while non-essential retailers were closed.

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