Profits at Medtronic down 21%

PRETAX PROFITS at the main Irish subsidiary of one of the State’s biggest multinational employers slipped 21 per cent last year to €149.8 million.

Results filed by Medtronic Vascular Galway Ltd show the fall in profit occurred despite a 9 per cent increase in turnover to €822.1 million in the year to April 29th last.

Directors attributed an 11 per cent increase in operating expenses – primarily driven by an increase in royalty expenditure – for the fall in pretax profit.

Adverse foreign exchange were another contributing factor, hitting earnings for €16 million compared to €1 million the previous year. Operating profit was down 20 per cent to €164 million.

The company said it expected the business to benefit from “continued acceptance of our core products used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease worldwide”.

Medtronic, which employed 1,826 people last year, down from 1,859, said it hoped to launch additional products worldwide. The rise in revenues was due primarily to growth in cardiovascular product sales, it added.

The company derives its revenues from sales of healthcare products, principally to group companies in the US and Switzerland.

Globally in the year to April 29th last, Medtronic recorded revenues of $15.9 billion.