Randox diagnostics records big sales surge on Covid-19 testing

Northern Ireland-based medical diagnostics company Randox has reported a massive surge in its revenues following involvement in Covid-19 testing.

The Belfast company, which was founded by scientist Peter Fitzgerald, reported revenues of more than £218 million (€253 million) for the 18-month period to the end of June 2020, recently filed accounts show. This is compared to sales of just over £118 million in the previous 12 months.

This suggests the reported revenues in its latest accounts are close to £30 million, or roughly one-quarter, ahead of where they would normally have been on an annual basis, pre-Covid. Considering the accounts only capture four months of the pandemic, this suggests Randox has racked up an enormous amount of extra revenue on the back of its virus testing.

A director’s note with the accounts predicts the full positive impact of the pandemic on its financial performance will become apparent in future filings.

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Randox, which supplies testing equipment, has several coronavirus-testing contracts with National Health Service departments in Britain. It is also involved in the provision of private-testing facilities in Ireland, including at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2.

Research projects

Despite the surge in revenues, however, Randox reported a loss of £19 million for the 18-month period, compared to a profit of £1.16 million for the previous 12 months. This was down to various writedowns of about £56 million, much of which it attributed to its involvement in Covid-19 testing.

For example, £21.7 million was written down on the value of research projects because, said Randox, their commercialisation would be delayed because of the company’s focus on Covid-19 testing.

The group operates from facilities in Antrim, Donegal, the UK, India, and West Virginia in the US. It also operates two health clinics in Britain and one in Northern Ireland. The company was restructured in March 2020, which resulted in its ownership being vested in an offshore entity on the Isle of Man. Mr Fitzgerald remains its ultimate controlling party.