Pretax profits at surgical supplies firm Covidien up 6%

Covidien posted a pre-tax profit of $53 million (€47 million) for the seven months ending April 24th, last year.

The Dublin-headquartered surgical supplies company was acquired by Medtronic in a $49.9 billion corporate inversion early last year.

Pre-tax profits rose 6 per cent over the seven months compared with $49.7 million posted for the year ending September 24th, 2014.

Operating profits were up 9 per cent to $52.1 million. The group paid dividends totalling $163 million, down from $595 million.

A significant amount of its profits are not subject to taxation in Ireland. When expenses and various reliefs are deducted the company’s tax bill fell from $7.4 million in 2014 to zero last year.

Following its $49.9 billion acquisition of Dublin-domiciled Covidien, Medtronic moved its corporate headquarters from Minneapolis to Ireland, in a move that saw it become the largest business in the country with a market capitalisation of around $100 billion.

Medtronic and Covidien employed around 4,000 people in Ireland at the time of the inversion. The combined group shed 150 jobs at its contact centre in Dublin last November.