Gilead profits rise to €631m driven by 9% jump in turnover

Last year, Gilead paid out cash dividends of $2.6bn to its immediate parent, Gilead Biopharmaceutics US. Picture: Larry Cummins

Pre-tax profits at the main Irish unit of pharmaceutical giant Gilead last year increased more than threefold to $725.96m (€631m).

New accounts show that Cork-based Gilead Sciences Ireland UC (GSIUC) recorded a sharp jump in profits, with revenues increasing by 9% from $6.55bn to $7.11bn.

Last year, the firm paid out cash dividends of $2.6bn and paid out a further $1bn in dividends this year to its immediate parent, Gilead Biopharmaceutics US LLC in a post-balance sheet event.

The 2024 dividend of $2.6bn followed a dividend payout of $2.2bn in 2023. The pre-tax profits of $725.96m follow pre-tax profits of $219.8m in 2023.

The firm recorded an operating profit of $645.9m and achieved the pre-tax profit of $725m after taking into account dividends received of $275m and non-cash impairment of assets of $224.46m, and interest costs of $66.27m.

The directors state that the increase in profits is primarily due to an increase in operating profit of $500m attributable to a 9% increase in turnover and an 8% decrease in cost of sales.

They said this “is offset by an increase in operating expenses driven primarily by an increase in intercompany management fees”. The company recorded a post-tax profit of $622.84m after incurring a corporation tax charge of $103.1m.

Gilead mainly produces drugs to combat HIV and Hepatitis C, while its Veklury medicine is a treatment for covid-19.

The US-headquartered firm develops, holds and commercialises certain intellectual property (IP) rights, manufactures, validates, tests, labels, supplies and distributes pharmaceutical products and provides financial shared services to other Gilead entities.

The company also operates a drug development hub for paediatric programs where they perform clinical development, safety, quality, biostatistics and data sciences, regulatory and compliance functions. The 2024 profit also takes account of hefty non-cash amortisation charges of $1.549bn.

The pay package for directors totalled $5.49m, made up of $1.7m in emoluments and pay under long-term incentive schemes of $3.73m. Numbers at the Cork unit increased by 14 from 631 to 645, and the company’s staff costs rose from $121.28m to $122.67m, including share-based payments of $14.62m.

On its future development, the directors state that in 2025, “we will continue to focus on executing our strategy to expand and strengthen our base business while maintaining our leadership in antiviral medications and continued investments in our pipeline, and external partnerships”.

They said: “We will continue to launch our products within the oncology, liver disease, inflammation and HIV therapeutic areas during 2025.”

At the end of 2024, GSIUC accumulated profits totalled $12.54bn. The company’s cash funds decreased from $235.86m to $99.45m.