ICON lowers earnings forecast
The Dublin-headquartered firm — which has its shares listed here and in the US — had guided towards full-year earnings per share of between $1.10 (€0.70) and $1.25 for 2011. However, it now expects that figure to be between 50c and 70c instead.
Icon’s chief executive Peter Gray said: “Significant work will be transitioned to Icon over the next two years as this partnership (the firm has been selected by Pfizer as a major international clinical development partner) develops, which should drive an acceleration in our growth over that time. We’re, thus, increasing our hiring drive and expect to add significant cost in the next two quarters as we gear up to handle work, which will be transferred to us in the fourth quarter of this year and throughout 2012.”
