Amazon Irish profits soar with jump of almost €40m
By Maurice Garvey
PRE-TAX profits at the main Irish arm of online giant Amazon last year increased by 30.5 per cent to €39.46 million.
New accounts filed by Amazon Data Services Ireland Ltd (ADSIL) show revenues jumped by 49 per cent from €1.1 billion to €1.65 billion.
The Amazon data centre in Tallaght at the former Tesco distribution site
The internet giant has a strong presence in Tallaght, with four data centres in the area.
Work on a fifth data centre commenced at the former Barretts warehouse last year, after planning permission was sought by ADSIL.
ADSIL is Amazon’s main data centre business, where consumers who sign up to the company’s cloud service to store data remotely see it stored in the Republic. It generates revenue by charging group entities for the use of its services rather than charging clients directly.
The company’s administrative expenses in 2018 increased from €1 billion to €1.6 billion. Non-cash depreciation costs climbed from €680 million to €801 million.
Research and development costs increased more than sixfold from €9.9 million to €70.7 million. Operating lease costs at the firm increased to €21.28 million.
The company paid corporation tax of €11 million on its profits, leaving a post-tax profit of €27.6 million.
At the end of last December, the company employed 1,371, up from 1,189 a year earlier, increasing staff costs from €117.98 million to €151.4 million.
Five directors served during the year and pay to directors increased by 31 per cent from €1.23 million to €1.62 million. This included shared-based awards of €1.03 million.
At the end of December last, the company’s shareholder funds totalled €845.57 million. Its accumulated profits increased from €100.96 million to €128.58 million.
In total, Amazon employs more than 2,500 people in the Republic and announced plans last June to create another 1,000 jobs here over the next two years, the majority of these at its subsidiary Amazon Web Services sites in Tallaght, Blanchardstown, the city centre and north Dublin.
