Veterinary pharmaceutical giant Norbrook has urged the UK government to avoid a no-deal Brexit, citing that the impact of such a crash-out would be “disproportionately” felt in Northern Ireland.
Announcing the results of Norbrook Holdings Ltd for the year to August 3, 2018, the firm’s chief executive Liam Nagle said:
“The business faces a number of challenges in 2019, not least the uncertainty of the Brexit outcome.
As an export company, with 85% of our revenue generated outside the UK, any barriers to trade, tariff and non-tariff will impact on our competitiveness.
“We have an integrated supply chain, with a global supply base, which relies on frictionless trade, and we urge all those directly involved to work together to avoid a no-deal Brexit, the impact of which I believe would be disproportionately felt in Northern Ireland.”
In terms of business performance, Nagle expressed satisfaction in the progress of the firm.
“2018 was another solid year for us, in which we made further progress on the implementation of our business strategy.
“We saw growth in our key markets, particularly the US where we had another strong year, up 15%, supported by the launch of a number of important products in the dairy sector.
“Our companion animal category continues to grow in line with expectations (up 12% in 2018).
We invested significantly in the business in 2018 – £13.9 million – bringing capital investment over the last three years to around £40 million.
The CEO said the firm has a “strong pipeline” and is working to identify new opportunities.
“Our strategy is delivering, with annual revenue and earnings before interest, tax deductions and amortisation (EBITDA) growth of 8% and 21% respectively over the last four years.
“We see a good runway for continued growth, based on our current portfolio and pipeline, in what continues to be a buoyant veterinary pharmaceutical sector,” Nagle said.
