Over €1m profits rise for Novartis’ Irish arm

PROFITS at the Irish arm of Swiss drugs group Novartis rose by just over €1 million last year.

Accounts just filed at the Companies Registration Office (CRO) show that Novartis Ringaskiddy, which manufactures bulk pharmaceuticals, made pre-tax profits of €25.9m in year to end December 2004, up from €24.8m the previous year.

Sales at the company rose by less than €2m to €117.5m. As the company did not pay out a dividend to its parent, retained profits at the end of 2004 increased to €164m.

The number of people employed by the firm dropped slightly to 416, a decrease of six.

The decrease saw the annual wage bill drop by €353,000 to €26.3m. The average wage per employee works out at around €63,000.

The company’s three directors - John Alexander, Andres Rummelt and Reto Braendli - shared €318,000 in emoluments.

The accounts show that it has received government grants of €8.19m, which may have to be paid back in certain circumstances.

The company’s employee pension fund fell into a deficit of €300,000 from a profit of €517,000 in 2003.

In addition to the manufacturing plant in Ringaskiddy, Novartis also has a sales and distribution arm in Dublin and a European shared services centre in Cork.