Services company owned by medical technology giant BD profits by €90m

A SHANNON-based shared services company employing just 14 people made profits of €90 million in 2005.

Figures lodged with the Companies Registration Office show that Benex Limited made pre-tax profits of €90.4m in 2005, compared to €95m in 2004.

After paying €9m in corporation tax, the firm, which is owned by international medical technology company, BD, returned after tax profits of €81.4m.

The company would have paid an extra €2.2m in tax but for special relief associated with its Shannon Free Zone location, which expired in December 2005.

Benex (Becton, Dickinson and Company) was first registered in Ireland in 1979.

It operates as a European trading centre for BD and is engaged in the purchase of manufactured product from BD companies and others, which it sells on to BD sales companies.

Benex also provides “agency, warehouse and treasury services for group companies within the Shannon Zone,” according to documents lodged with the CRO.

The company’s inventories are warehoused in Belgium.

During the year, Benex paid dividends totalling €62m to its parent company — compared to €78m in 2004 — and retained €19.4m in company reserves, bringing reserves to €31.5m.

Benex’s directors said they expect the company’s business to continue to develop and that it is well positioned to benefit from future developments in the industry.

Just last week BD said it to invest €52 million, with the support of IDA Ireland, in the development and expansion of its medical devices global manufacturing centre in Drogheda, Co Louth.

The investment will add a new dimension to the existing manufacturing operation and is expected to create an additional 125 jobs over five years, including almost 40 positions requiring a third level qualification.

BD was one of the first IDA-supported overseas medical technology companies to establish a facility in Ireland, commencing operations in Drogheda back in 1964 and Dun Laoghaire in 1970.

Both facilities manufacture specific diabetes care devices; blood lancets in Drogheda and insulin injecting pen needles in Dun Laoghaire.

The company has invested a total of €115 million in its Irish plants over the last 10 years, to create two state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities.