Icon, the Irish-based provider of outsourced drug development services, reported a 6 per cent jump in revenues in 2016, as the company looks to continue to diversify its customer base in 2017.
In the year to December 31st, 2016, revenues grew by 5.8 per cent to $1.7 billion, up from $1.6 billion in 2015, as the provider of services to the the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, reported full year gross business wins of $2.3 billion. Earnings per share rose by 20 per cent to $4.77.
Icon chief executive Ciaran Murray said it was "another good year" for the Leopardstown based company.
“We grew our backlog by 8 per cent year-on-year to $4.2 billion, constant currency revenues increased by 6.4 per cent to $1.7 billion and we exited 2016 with an operating margin of 19.5 per cent. This enabled us to grow EPS by 19.8 per cent year on year to $4.77. We expect 2017 to be another year of revenue and earnings growth as we continue to build and diversify our customer base,” he said.
In the fourth quarter of the year, revenues rose by 7.9 per cent to $435 million, as earnings per share rose by 20 per cent to $1.33 and Icon reported gross business wins of $605 million. As of December 31st 2016, Icon had net debt of $88 million, down from $158 million at the end of 2015.
Looking to 2017, Icon reaffirmed its full year revenue guidance in the range of $1.7- $1.8 million, representing growth of 2-5 per cent.
