In February, Verizon Communications signed a 15-year lease for 84,334sq ft (7,835sqm) of space at the newly developed 1BQ office scheme in Limerick City. Photo: Kena Betancur/VIEWpress
Pre-tax profits at the main Irish unit of US telecommunications giant Verizon Communications last year declined by 20pc to $947.47m (€856m).
Last December, Verizon Communications announced plans to expand its operation in Ireland by setting up a new global centre of excellence in Limerick city that will employ more than 400 workers.
Verizon has been active here since 2006 and employs about 1,000 workers in Dublin.
The new accounts for Verizon Services Ireland Ltd show that pre-tax profits declined as revenues reduced by 18pc from $1.2bn to $982m.
The company last year paid out dividends totalling $760m to Verizon Holding UK Ltd and paid out another dividend of $475m in March of this year to Verizon UK Holding Ltd.
The combined dividend payouts of this year and last year followed dividend payouts by the company of $1.55bn in 2022.
A note states that Verizon UK Holding Ltd had transferred its share in Verizon Services Ireland Ltd to Verizon International Inc on April 29.
The directors state that they are satisfied with the performance of the company in 2023 and future developments include establishing the new global centre of excellence in Limerick.
The company announced the new Limerick venture last December and the directors state that “some minor expenditure was incurred prior to year end”.
The directors state that at December 31 last, there was a committed spend of $342,000, which relates to work that will start in 2024.
In February, Verizon Communications signed a 15-year lease for 84,334sq ft (7,835sqm) of space at the newly developed 1BQ office scheme in Limerick City as part of its global centre of excellence plans for Limerick.
Developed by Kirkland Investments, 1BQ occupies a high-profile waterfront site overlooking the River Shannon at Bishop’s Quay in Limerick city centre and the scheme comprises an eight-storey office block.
A breakdown of revenues at the Verizon unit shows that $734.5m was generated through “sourcing”; $227.92m through “roaming” and $19.4m through product resale services.
Numbers employed increased from 180 to 186 as staff costs rose from $27.18m to $30.74m. The company recorded post-tax profits of $829.3m after recording a corporation tax charge of $118.16m.
At the end of December 2023, the firm had accumulated profits of $445m.
