PHARMA and diagnostics giant Almac doubled its operating profits to nearly £29 million in 2015 - easily the most successful trading year in its short history.

Figures filed at Companies House also reveal that the Craigavon-based firm is now sitting on assets of nearly £320m, making it one of the richest in Northern Ireland.

And as its employee base rose by 250 people in the year to last September to 3,554, it's wages bill jumped to £151.6m, which included £2.1m split between its five directors (the highest paid boss pocketed £587,263).

It's been a spectacularly successful 12 months at Almac, which was established in 2002 by the late Sir Allen McClay, previously of Galen Holdings.

In October the company confirmed the multi million pound acquisition of Arran Chemicals in the Republic, and the following month announced a £16m investment to expand its formulation and analytical development services to meet ongoing client demand.

Almac also successfully completed negotiations to operate a significant proportion of the 70-acre Charnwood Campus at Loughborough – a world-class science, technology and enterprise park and its first facility in England.

Specifically, Almac will occupy the formulation development and analytical testing facilities at the site which will complement existing development and services offered from its Craigavon headquarters.

Figures for its full-year 2015 performance show that Almac Group made a pre-tax profit of £27.9m, up from £12.6m on the previous year, as turnover rose substantially from £341.6m to £393.6m.

After all taxes were paid, bottom line profit almost trebled from £8.3m to £22.6m.

The company also increased its expenditure on research and development from £4.1m to £5.4m.

A significant factor underlying the increase in profit was steady growth in the core business units and the receipt of income relating to out-licensing of oncology products and diagnostics tests which had been developed in house by the group.

The company's chairman and chief executive Alan Armstrong said: “These results are hugely encouraging and testament to the dedication of our staff and the quality of our operations.

"Last year was a significant one for Almac with continued expansion in the USA, UK and in Asia.

"Our longer term focus is clear. We will continue to strive for commercial growth and the achievement of our vision, the advancement of human health.”

The Almac Group - which also has operations in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, California, Singapore and Tokyo - provides an extensive range of integrated services to 600 companies globally within the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.