ICON profits fall to under $18m

THIRD quarter pre-tax profits at Irish pharmaceutical services company, ICON, fell to $17.9 million (€12.8m); from just under $30m for the corresponding period last year.

Net revenue, for the three months to the end of September, was up by $5m on a year-on-year basis at $225.1m; while basic earnings per share fell from 41c to 33c.

The Dublin-headquartered company, which acts as a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device sectors, and which has its primary share listing on New York’s Nasdaq exchange, said its net cash reserves jumped by $10m to $231m between the end of June and the end of last month.

According to company chief executive Peter Gray, the clinical trials division had another solid quarter, with the value of new business wins amounting to $317m. Despite this, however, Mr Gray said that the growing backlog of orders has not converted into revenue growth as quickly as anticipated. “Overall, ICON remains in a strong position and continues to invest in its business in order to benefit from the opportunities that are arising as our customers transition to new development models.”