Trinity Biotech in pre-tax profits dip

THE weakness of the US dollar coupled with lower American sales of its main HIV testing product led to a fall in second-quarter pre-tax profits for Irish medical test kit manufacturer, Trinity Biotech.

Pre-tax profits for the three months to the end of June were down to $1.79million (€1.13m), from $3.04m (€1.91m) in the corresponding period last year. For the first six months of the year, Trinity’s pre-tax profits came in at $2.9m (€1.8m) — down from $5.76m (€3.63m) in the first half of last year. The company’s revenue in the second quarter was down marginally on a year-on-year basis — from $37.4m (€2.36m) to $36.3m (€22.9m); while on a half-year basis the decline was slightly more pronounced with numbers falling from $74.14m (€46.8m) to $70.54m (€44.53m), year-on-year.

Despite these figures, the company’s chief financial officer, Kevin Tansley said: “We have made significant progress this quarter. Revenues have grown by 6% and profit after tax has increased by 44% over the first quarter. We have continued to successfully control costs, with SG&A [selling, general and administrative] expenses showing a decrease over the first quarter.”