Irish medical diagnostic firm Trinity Biotech reported a “disappointing” fall in revenues in the second quarter as it also booked a $5.7 million (€5.1m) tax charge linked to a tax audit.
The company recorded a loss before non-cash items of $5.6 million for the quarter, which equates to a loss per share of 26.6 cent or 17.9 cent on a fully diluted basis.
Trinity Biotech said second quarter sales came in at $22.5 million, down 10 per cent versus the $25 million reported a year earlier. The decline was attributed to a 46.6 per cent drop in point-of-care revenues arising from lower sales in Africa and the US.
Point-of-care sales fell by $1.9 million to $2.15 million, while clinical laboratory sales were down 3 per cent to $20.4 million.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and share option expense for the quarter was $2.9 million. Excluding the impact of the once-off tax charge the basic loss per EPS amounted to 0.2 cent versus 2.9 cent in the equivalent period last year.
The Nasdaq-listed company develops, manufactures and markets diagnostic systems for the point-of-care and clinical laboratory segments of the diagnostic market. Its products are sold in more than 110 countries, and it employs more than 500 people
“Operating profit this quarter fell from $1.7 million to $1.2 million due to the combined impact of lower revenues and gross margin,” said chief financial officer Kevin Tansley. “However, the impact of these factors was significantly lessened by the reduction in indirect costs from $9.1 million to $8.3 million during the quarter. This was attributable to the continued impact of the cost-saving programme which the company has implemented.”
Trinity Biotech said revenues for the six months ending June 30th totalled $44.5 million, as against $48.8 million a year earlier. It reported a $5.44 million loss before tax and non-cash items for the same period.
