Revenues and staff levels at animal health group Norbrook’s arm in the Republic of Ireland were stable last year despite what its directors described as a “disappointing” performance across the wider group.
Accounts filed recently by Norbrook Labs Ireland – which markets and distributes the pharma group’s products in the Republic from its base in Monaghan – reveal a 12 per cent jump in sales in the 12 months to August 2nd last.
Separately, sales at Norbrook’s manufacturing arm in the Republic, also based in Monaghan, increased by around 9 per cent to €3.16 million, according to accounts filed in Dublin by Norbrook Manufacturing.
Staffing at the two southern-registered companies in the Northern Ireland-based group was stable in the year at 58 across the two companies.
It comes after Norbrook, which employed around 2,000 in total at the time, unveiled a programme of redundancies in 2023, looking to shed some 180 jobs as it pursued cost cuts.
The latest accounts cover a challenging period for the wider business, which was founded by the late businessman Edward Haughey.
In January, Norbrook, a significant employer in the Newry area, reported a 6 per cent decline in sales in the 12 months to the start of August last year to £219 million (€257.5 million). Overall, sales were down more than 20 per cent below the peak of £275 million they hit in 2018 and only slightly above the £215 million reported a decade ago.
Group profits for the period came in at £5.3 million.
That was up on the £3.9 million recorded in 2023 but still well short of the £21.3 million the business recorded in the 12 months to the end of July 2022. It was also distorted by the £3.15 million Norbrook booked in redundancy costs in the previous year, without which profit would have fallen again.
The directors said at the time the performance had been “disappointing” as “sales came under pressure in a number of markets during [the 2024 financial year],” hitting turnover at the business, which researches, manufactures and sells animal health products.
Staff costs, meanwhile, fell to £78.2 million last year from £82.6 million in 2023 after the redundancy programme, as Norbrook slashed staff numbers to 1,719 last year from 1,938 in the year to the end of July 2023.
The group was founded in 1969 by Mr Haughey, Lord Ballyedmond. He died in a helicopter crash in 2014. The company is now controlled by a family trust, while Mr Haughey’s widow controls a stake of 21 per cent.
