Craigavon's Almac makes pre-tax profit of almost £27m in 2016

Almac's global headquarters are in Craigavon, County Armagh

Almac, the Craigavon-based pharmaceutical firm, made a pre-tax profit of almost £27m in 2016.

That was just below its record performance achieved the previous year, although 2015 included a one-off gain from licensing fees.

Turnover was up 14% to £447m while employee numbers were up by 12% to almost 4,000.

Almac operates across the world, with more than half its staff based in Craigavon.

The company said 2016 had seen "significant investment" on expanding its US HQ at Souderton, Pennsylvania.

EU presence

Almac also recently announced a £5m investment at its global HQ campus in Craigavon to build an additional lab and office facility.

Further investment is being planned as part of its global expansion strategy and will be announced throughout the year.

In January the firm bought a factory in the Republic of Ireland as a direct result of Brexit.

A major part of the Craigavon-based business is making products for big drugs firms.

It told a Commons committee its customers need it to have a guaranteed presence in the EU for regulatory reasons.

Group chief executive Alan Armstrong said: "2016 was a very successful year for Almac as we continued to deliver upon our global expansion strategy including investment of around £31m in new facilities, equipment and resources."