This article is from page 2 of the 2007-11-06 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
SHANNON-BASED | pharmaceuti- cal firm, Schwarz Pharma recorded a loss last year of €60 million, ac- cording to accounts lodged with the Companies Office.
The accounts show that the firm in- creased the size of its business from €35 million to €41 million.
However, the cost of sales increased from €38 million to €45 million and the company’s resulting operating loss for 2006 is €8.5 million.
It is the “amortization” of the com- pany’s pharmaceutical products that is the primary reason behind the loss; the company had to write off €34 million under this heading.
Other factors include a cost of €11 million under the heading of “‘inter- est payable”, while €14 million was spent on “non-operating expenses”.
The loss comes against the back- ground of the company investing over €150 million in its Shannon operation.
Construction has recently com- menced on a new premises on the Westpark Business Campus in Shan- te) 0F
They also show that the company has intangible assets valued at €424 POpUNBCOyER
The accounts show that the com- pany had a turnover of €41 million with €27 million of the sales in Eu- rope and €14 million in the US.
The company’s employees in- creased from 180 in 2005 to 201 in 2006. Staff costs increased from €10 million to €13 million.
According to a statement accom- panying the accounts, the company’s product profile continues to show promise. The Rotigotine patch for the treatment of Parkinsons disease (Neupro) was launched in 2006 in nine markets: Germany, UK, Aus- tria, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Sweden and Greece. The outlook remains very positive for this product after a very success- ful launch.
The years 2006 – 2008 will be very much transition years for the com-
eas
Significant investments will take place to ensure the company has ad- equate capacity and upgraded infra- structure to manufacture and supply the new products in the future.
2006 continued an investment program in excess of €100m for various capacity and infrastructural investments. In addition significant development and launch costs were incurred during the year.
In relation to risks and uncertain- ties facing the company, “the com- pletion of all current projects and their commissioning will be a chal- lenge for the company”, while the accounts state that no dividend was paid in 2006.