Profits slip at Irish Novartis plant despite higher sales

Revenues at a Ringaskiddy-based unit of pharma giant, Novartis last year increased by 3.5 per cent to 112.12 million.

However pre-tax profits at NovartisRingaskiddy Ltd fell 2 per cent to 16.76 million as costs rose.

Last month, Novartis confirmed that it was set to shed 320 jobs, more than half the workforce, at its Cork campus over the next three years.

Novartis Ringaskiddy Ltd employed 388 last year, down from 403 a year earlier. Staff costs increased to 45.53 million.

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The directors state that the increase in revenues last year was driven by changes in the product portfolio including the restart of Diovan production.

On the company’s future developments, the directors state that NovartisRingaskiddy is strategically important to the Novartis group as it manufactures the active ingredient for a large number of top selling brands in the Novartis portfolio.

They state: “Future development will depend on the success of the group’s overall strategy, specifically in the development and marketing of new products.”