Project management firm PM Group has reported an operating profit of €15.6 million for 2018, which up more than 71% year on year.
It comes as revenues rose 41% to €406 million though the Irish-based company said its fee revenue, which more accurately reflects performance, was up by 13%.
Net assets at PM Group increased by 19% to €62 million, underpinning the group's capacity to drive development and growth through continued investment.
PM Group employs 2,600 people worldwide, and manages projects for a range of firms, including Takeda, Boston Scientific and Glanbia.
Throughout the year, the group worked on projects in over 30 countries. It had a strong year in Ireland with major projects in the Pharma, Mission Critical, Food and MedTech sectors and significant capital investment by core clients including for example MSD, Janssen, Boston Scientific, Eli Lilly and Takeda.
Dave Murphy, CEO, said the sustained activity levels of its clients in the sectors where it specialise is what is driving this strong performance. "In addition to organic growth, we have added value-enhancing acquisitions in Belgium and the UK and, given the strength of our balance sheet, we have the capacity to acquire further complementary businesses in our core markets, particularly in the United States and Europe."
The existing business in the UK improved performance on prior year, despite the notable slow-down in capital investment due to Brexit uncertainty. The addition of PM PROjEN, acquired in January 2018, added to the overall improved UK earnings.
Operations in mainland Europe had a busy year with strong levels of activity in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Switzerland.
In Asia, the group made significant strides in China, where it has been operating for a decade. It was a very busy year in China completing projects for Zoetis, Genscript, Merck, IFF and Givaudan among others. There has been a surge in biologics as well as Cell & Gene therapy investments and, given its strong track record in this area globally, the PM Group is working on several significant projects in this sector.
It is currently project managing a number of large developments on greenfield and brownfield sites throughout China for international and Chinese clients, including a major distillery project in Chengdu.
"We have made significant progress in China, having built a presence there over the past ten years," Mr Murphy said. "We are involved in projects across our specialist sectors along the eastern sea board as well as inland China. Our board is visiting China next week to see first-hand a number of the projects we have managed as well as the pipeline of new business."
PM Group also enjoyed a successful year in North America and is growing strongly there. It delivered key projects for Pharma and MedTech clients in the US and the PM Group design hubs on the East and West coasts have been expanding. This year has seen even stronger levels of activity with the group's largest ever US project currently underway in Portland Oregon.
The company has more than 2,600 people worldwide, 900 of whom are shareholders in the firm. It is currently in the process of recruiting up to 200 people with another 100 to be recruited in 2020. Half of these jobs will be in Ireland with the remainder spread through its international office network. A large proportion of these will be new graduates across all disciplines.
The momentum from last year has carried through 2019 with numerous large projects in various stages of delivery and a healthy backlog.
The Group anticipates as this stage that underlying revenue will increase again this year, with further growth in operating profits. It expects the positive momentum to be maintained into next year.
"We have also grown employment substantially across the group and particularly in Ireland with a highly successful Graduate Programme which attracts a variety of disciplines from third and fourth level education. Given the trajectory of our growth and the demands for additional expertise across the group, we are currently recruiting 200 net new positions and will add a further 100 by the end of next year."
