Irish clinical trials group Icon posts 3.4% rise in revenues

Dublin-headquartered medical outsourcing provider Icon has reported a 3.4 per cent increase in revenues to $389 million (€352m) for the second quarter, compared to $376 million for the same quarter a year earlier.

First-half revenues at the Nasdaq-listed company rose 7.1 per cent to $776.9 million from $725.7 million.

Icon, which is a global provider of drug development solutions and services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, said income from operations totalled was up 41 per cent year-on-year to $68.1 per cent, equivalent to 17.5 per cent of revenue as against $48.3 million or 12.8 per cent for the same quarter in 2014.

Income from operations for the first-half meanwhile rose by 48 per cent to $134.8 million, or 17.4 per cent of revenues

Net income was up 44 per cent to $58.5 million or 95 cents per share on a diluted basis, versus $40.8 million or 64 cents per share for the second quarter of last year and up by 49 per cent to $114.5 million from $134.8 million for the first six months of the year.

The group achieved a record level of net new business awards of $486 million in the second quarter, it said. Overall, gross business wins totalled $571 million, representing a gross book to bill of 1.47.

Earnings per share were 95 cents, up 48 per cent year-on-year.

Operating income margin for the quarter equated to 17.5 per cent.

Guidance for the full-year has been updated with earnings increased from a range of between $3.60 and $3.70 to between $3.89 and $4. Revenue has been revised from a range of between $1.60 billion and $1.65 billion to between $1.57 billion and $1.6 billion.

Having previously repurchased $58 million of shares in the year-to-date, Icon also approved a further expansion of its share repurchase programme of up to $400 million, which the group said, would be funded using committed financing and cash on hand.

Established in 1990 by Dr John Climax & Dr Ronan Lambe, Icon now employs over 10,000 people across 79 offices in 37 countries, including over 1,000 staff in Ireland.

It announced plans to create an additional 200 jobs in Dublin earlier this year as part of a plan to develop a new global innovation hub here.