Icon, the Dublin-based clinical trials group for pharmaceutical manufacturers globally, has confirmed that revenue accounting issues extended from 2023 and 2024 into the first nine months of last year, after completing an investigation into its accounting practices and controls.
Still, the Nasdaq-listed group said in a statement on Wednesday that the overstatement of revenues in 2023 and 2024 was lower than the upper limit of 2 per cent indicated by the business in February.
While the investigation also identified similar issues in 2025, the impact on revenue was less than in the preceding years, it said. The company plans to restate results for the years 2023 and 2024, as well as for the first nine months of 2025.
Icon said it will publish its annual report after its financial statements and the external audit process are completed in the coming weeks. The document will include “details of material weaknesses identified by the company and associated remediation plans”, it added.
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Shares in the company rallied almost 13 per cent in early trading in New York, as investors cheered news that the scale of the revenue overstatements remained contained relative to the initial announcement. Still, the stock remains down nearly 40 per cent so far this year.
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“We look forward to reporting our results once the audit process is complete and to providing a broader business update, including details of backlog policy changes, recent business wins and cancellation trends,” said Barry Balfe, chief executive.
“While near-term performance will continue to be impacted by recent market dynamics, we are encouraged by the improved demand environment. I am also pleased with execution on our commercial strategy, reflecting the strong value we deliver to our customers. Our global scale, leading capabilities and strategic investments in advanced technology uniquely position Icon for sustained growth in the future.”
The company reaffirmed that there was no impact on customers, operations or cash flow from the accounting issues.
Icon reported revenues of $8.28 billion (€6.97 billion) for 2024 and $8.12 billion for the previous year, its financial statements for both periods show.
In October, the company said it expected full-year financial revenues for 2025 to be between $8.05 billion and $8.1 billion.
Concerns raised by management prompted the Icon board’s audit committee to begin investigating some of its accounting practices and controls last October, the company said in February.
Icon, founded in Dublin in 1990, has grown to become one of the world’s leading clinical research groups, providing outsourced clinical development and commercialisation services to pharmaceutical companies. It employs 40,000 people in operations across 55 countries carrying out clinical trials of new drugs developed by pharmaceutical manufacturers.
According to its website, recent notable projects include an anthrax vaccine clinical trial for the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, a federal organisation that develops vaccines and treatments for public health medical emergencies.
