Fall in profits at United Drug

UNITED Drug chief executive Liam FitzGerald believes the company’s full-year financial performance will be in line with last year, even after reporting a 10% year-on-year drop in first half profits yesterday.

The Dublin-headquartered international drug wholesale and healthcare services group saw pre-tax profits slip to €16.9 million for the six months to the end of March.

Yesterday’s figures also showed a 4% year-on-year fall in operating profits for the period to €21.9m and a 12% slip in diluted earnings per share to 6.29c.