Pre-tax profits at the Limerick based Johnson & Johnson producer of eye-care products decreased by 15%to €458.97m in 2022.
Recently filed accounts by Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Ireland UC show that the business recorded the drop in pre-tax profits despite revenues rising by €200m or 19% from €1.04 billion to €1.24 billion in the 12 months to January 1, 2023.
The firm - based at Limerick's National Technology Park (NTP) - is one of the largest private sector employers in the Midwest as numbers employed increased from 1,243 to 1,466 in 2022.
Underlining the firm's contribution to the Midwest economy, its staff costs in 2022 totalled €142m that included wages and salaries of €111.99m. Staff costs increased sharply in 2022 from €99.8m in 2021.
At the end of 2022, 1,427 staff were engaged in manufacturing and production with 39 engaged in administration.
The directors state that the increase in revenues in 2022 is due to the increase in the volume of lens produced due to increased demand post Covid restrictions.
They state that "despite ongoing competitive challenges in the marketplace, the directors are satisfied that they will be able to manage the company's activities to enable it to continue trading profitably into the future".
The directors also state that the drop in profit is due to an increase in the cost of sales and the impact of an impairment write back of €130m recorded in 2021 and this gain did not re-occur in 2022.
The business's profits were boosted in 2022 by €31.5m in other finance income which followed other finance expense of €39.5m in 2021.
The firm's profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €66.1m and research and development (R&D) costs of €6.8m.
The company recorded post tax profits of €392.27m after incurring a corporation tax charge of €66.7m.
Directors' pay increased from €2.12m to €2.58m in 2022.
At the end of January 1 2023, the firm had shareholder funds of €2.92 billion, which included accumulated profits of €2.76 billion.
Accounts for a separate J&J Irish unit, the Cork based Depuy Ireland UC show that it recorded a pre-tax loss of €21.96m in the 12 months to January 1, 2023.
The company reduced its pre-tax losses in 2022 by 87% as revenues increased by 26% from €1.26 billion to €1.59 billion.
The firm reduced its losses after a 2021 provision of €71.6m for product recall did not re-occur in 2022. The 2022 loss takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €42.5m.
The company is engaged in the production and supply of orthopaedic medical devices, including artificial replacement hips and knee joints and numbers employed at the Ringaskiddy based firm increased from 1,031 to 1,106 as staff costs increased from €102m to €112m.
Reporting by Gordon Deegan
