Perrigo reports a 54% fall in profit

The company which bought Irish drug firm, Elan last year has reported a near 54% fall in annual net profit.

New York-listed and Dublin-domiciled Perrigo — which is ranked as the leading maker of generic over-the-counter drugs in the US — yesterday reported full-year net income of $205.3m (€154m) for the 12 months to the end of June. This was down by nearly 54% on the $442m (€330m) profit reported the previous year.

Net sales for the year were up from $3.54bn to just under $4.1bn and the company saw strong double-digit growth — across both reported net income and net sales — in the fourth quarter; buoyed by new product sales of $65m and $112m in sales attributable to the Elan takeover, specifically sales and royalties from the latter’s MS treatment, Tysabri.

Perrigo’s management is guiding 13%-17% growth in adjusted earnings per share for its new financial year.

Chief executive Joe Papa said the Elan buy has transformed the firm into a truly global organisation, which is “uniquely positioned” to continue its growth.

Earlier this year, Perrigo said it incurred once-off costs of over €200m from its $9.5bn purchase of Elan, which was completed at the end of last year. Overall, however, Perrigo expects to benefit from around $150m in annual tax savings from acquiring Elan and moving its tax base to Ireland.