Icon revenue rises 7 per cent

Revenue at Icon, one of the country’s largest clinical trial companies, rose by 7 per cent in the third quarter to $241 million (€171.9 million).

However, the company posted a net loss of $2.7 million for the third quarter after restructuring costs of $4.8 million pushed the company into the red.

The company, which was founded in Dublin in 1990 by John Climax and Ronan Lambe, also announced details of a share buy-back programme up to $50 million to commence in the fourth quarter.

During the quarter the company undertook a number of cost reduction steps which led to restructuring costs of $4.8 million. Before restructuring charges operating income was $1.1 million or 0.5 per cent of revenue compared to $17.6 million or 7.8 per cent of revenue for the same period last year.

The company is estimating a 15 to 20 per cent growth in revenue in 2012, generating earnings per share in the range of $0.90-$1.10.

Icon employs approximately 8,350 people in 39 countries, including around 600 at its headquarters in Sandyford in Dublin.

In July it acquired Limerick clinical trials company Firecrest Clinical for $24.4 million., while earlier this year acquired British pharmaceutical company Oxford Outcomes.

Chief executive Ciaran Murray said that the company had added around 500 staff during the quarter which has impacted profitability.

"Our success in developing significant strategic partnerships has resulted in a milestone quarter of record net new business of $431 million”, he said.