Firm pays €2.15bn dividend to US parent

THE main Irish subsidiary of US pharmaceutical firm, Forest Laboratories this year paid a dividend of $3 billion (€2.15bn) to its US parent, new figures show.

Documents just filed with the Companies Office show pre-tax profits at Forest Laboratories Holdings Ltd fell sharply by 45%, from $859.9m (€617.105m) to $466.9m (€335.078m) to the end of March this year.

The Dublin-based company is the license holder to manufacture and distribute Forest Laboratories’ best selling pharmaceutical products in the US.