Profit before income tax

This line takes operating profit, adds financial income (interest, dividends received, exchange gains) and subtracts financial costs (loan interest, exchange losses).

The gap between this line and net profit is the tax charge for the year. In Ireland that charge is rarely a single rate: trading profit and passive income are taxed differently, and reliefs and prior-year losses move the effective rate further, so the two lines can sit closer together or further apart than a headline rate would suggest.