Pharmaceutical services firm revenue up 10% to €191m

First-quarter revenues at pharmaceutical services firm Icon rose 10% year-on-year to $252m (€191m).

The strong increase was attributed to new business wins and contributions from recent investments.

However, net income for the three-month period at the Dublin-headquartered company was slightly down — from $12.8m to $9m — on the corresponding period last year, as were earnings per share, which dipped from 21c in the first quarter of 2011 to 15c for the same period this year.

“We continue to see the benefits of our strategic investment decisions,” said CEO Ciaran Murray.

Icon’s first-quarter operating profits rose 5% to $11.7m, and represented 4.6% of overall revenue in the period.

The company — which has its main share listing in New York — added that the gross value of new business wins during the quarter amounted to $485m.

The company — which acts as a provider of outsourced development services to sectors such as the biotechnology, medical devices and pharmaceutical industries — reported a 5% increase in full-year revenues, to $946m for 2011, back in February.

At that stage, management said that it was guiding for continued full-year revenue growth in 2012, with a range of between $1.07bn and $1.11bn anticipated; along with earnings per share of 90c to $1.10.