Novartis pre-tax profit down 55%
Accounts just returned to the Companies Office show revenues at Cork-based Novartis Ringaskiddy Ltd (NRL) dropped by 7% from €122.3m to €113.5m to the end of December last.
The manufacturing company — which employs 437 — sustained the 55% drop in pre-tax profits from €18.9m to €8.4m.
According to the directors’ report, the decrease in turnover and profit “results from the release of production variances in the prior year”.
The company manufactures the active ingredient for a large number of the top 20 products in the Novartis portfolio. The directors state: “Future development will depend on the success of the group’s overall strategy, specifically in the development and marketing of new products.”
The directors state “sales in any particular year are dependent on the group’s overall strategy and are largely dictated by the parent company”.
The company’s principal activity is the manufacture of chemicals for the related Novartis International Pharmaceutical Ltd.
The company had accumulated profits of €238.6m at the end of December.
The pharmaceutical giant operates in 140 countries employing almost 100,000 with its global headquarters at Basle, Switzerland. It is engaged in the manufacture and supply of pharmaceutical products and specialist animal health medicines to the agricultural, healthcare and industrial sectors.
Novartis was created in 1996 through the merger of Ciba-Geigy and Sandoz and NRL employs 406 in production and 31 in administration with staff costs last year dropping by 3% to €39.2m.
The accounts show at NRL last year €249,000 was paid for directors’ remuneration – an increase of €29,000 on the previous year.
The accounts show that the company’s cost of sales increased marginally last year from €103.3m to €104.7m, while gross profit dropped by 53% from €18.9m to €8.7m.
The filings show that the company sustained an actuarial loss of €6.2m on its pension scheme last year.
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