Revenues at Cork-based Apple business rise to a record $235bn

Cathy Kearney, vice-president operations, Apple, welcomes Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Lord Mayor of Cork Fergal Dennehy to the opening of Apple’s new Hollyhill 5 building on its Cork campus.

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish subsidiary of iPhone maker Apple last year increased by 6% to $80.96bn (€70.49bn) in another record year for the business.

New consolidated accounts filed by the Cork based Apple Operations International Ltd show pre-tax profits increased as revenues rose by $13bn or 6%, from $222.3bn to $235.3bn in the 12 months to the end of September 27 last.

The pre-tax profits of $80.96bn are a $4.6bn increase on the pre-tax profits of $76.36bn for the prior year.

The group last year paid out $22.78bn in corporation tax, a 157% increase on the $8.84bn corporation tax paid out in the prior year.

A large contributor to the firm’s $22.78bn corporation tax payout for last year arose from the $15.84bn corporation tax charge from the European Court of Justice decision to find against Apple and the Irish Government in the disputed Apple State Aid tax case dating back to a European Commission State Aid decision in 2016.

Apple is registered at the company’s Holyhill campus in Cork and its group accounts cover most of Apple’s non-US subsidiaries.

The company acts as a holding company for a number of Apple subsidiaries. It manufactures and develops everything from the company’s iPhone and iPad products to Mac computers.

The group has international operations with sales outside Ireland representing a majority of the group's net sales.

The directors confirmed dividends of $69.4bn were paid by the group last year, with $70bn paid by the company to its ultimate parent, Apple Inc, during the year.

The group recorded post tax profits last year of $68.88bn after incurring a corporation tax charge of $12.07bn for 2025.

The $235.3bn in revenues last year represent 56.5% of Apple Inc’s global revenues of $416.16bn last year.

The group generated $61.13bn in cash from its operating activities last year.

Separate company financial statements for the Cork-based Apple Operations International Ltd alone show  it recorded a post-tax profit of $73.66bn last year, an 1% increase on the post-tax profits of $62.3bn for the prior year.

The group accounts do not disclose corporate tax paid in Ireland but say a 12.5% corporate tax charge would have resulted in corporation taxes of $10.1bn.

The $12.07bn corporate tax charge for last year included a tax credit of $561m from the Apple European Court of Justice State Aid decision which followed a tax charge of $15.84bn in the prior year.

The corporation tax bill also includes a $1.4bn charge related to Pillar 2 international tax reforms which were designed at increasing the corporate tax take from large firms.

Pillar 2 came into effect at the start of 2024, with the aim that companies with revenues in excess of €750m would be subject to an effective minimum corporate tax rate of 15%.

The filing does not say where its corporation tax was paid, but the greatest share is likely to have been paid here, where the company is based.

A note attached to the accounts state that the corporation income tax included in the financial statements “do not include US level corporate taxes borne by Apple Inc”.

Numbers employed at AOIL and subsidiaries last year totalled 56,694 an increase of 867 on the prior year and some 6,000 of those employees are based in Ireland.

Staff costs totalled $7.6bn and that included share-based compensation of $1.88bn.