Costs associated with the shutdown and decommissioning of Roche’s only Irish manufacturing plant at Clarecastle contributed to pre-tax losses soaring to €35.5m at Roche Ireland last year.
That is according to new accounts for Roche Ireland Ltd which reveal that environmental, decommissioning and demolition costs associated with the closure last year totalled €11.39m.
The loss also arose from Roche Ireland incurring a €11.5m exceptional cost concerning a wind-up of the company’s defined benefit pension scheme.
By March of last year, 95pc of the workforce at the site had departed and the company has now transitioned the site from a manufacturing site to a construction site.
The directors state that the decontamination and demolition works will continue until 2025.
The plant was once one of the most prestigious places of employment in the Midwest and the Swiss-owned pharma giant announced in 2016 that it was to close the plant at Clarecastle after it failed to secure a buyer for the site.
In line with the plant’s closure plan, the company ceased all manufacturing in 2019 and completed all sales of product by January 2020.
The phased closure resulted in revenues of €5.8m for 2020 compared to revenues of €50.3m for 2019.
The pre-tax loss last year of €35.5m followed a pre-tax loss of €8.8m in 2019.
The directors state that the Covid-19 pandemic did not have a significant impact of the progress of the decommissioning project.
The directors’ report states while the Clarecastle site was affected by the construction restrictions due to Covid-19, the project’s sub teams responsible for developing both the regulatory applications and tender package were working remotely to ensure the scheduled timelines were met.
They state: “No additional costs are expected because of the lockdown.”
Numbers employed reduced from 132 to 25.
Staff costs last year reduced from €16.5m to €4.4m. Two remained in management and 23 in production during 2020.
Directors’ pay last year increased from €350,000 to €414,000.
On the environmental costs of €4.8m, a note attached to the accounts states that during the year, the company incurred engineering costs relating to the remediation of the site’s landfill.
The company’s total ‘other cost’ bill for last year amounted to €12.89m and included other external charges of €3.5m and ‘other operating costs’ of €4.7m.
At the end of last December, Roche Ireland had accumulated profits of €6.12m.
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2020 employed more than 100,000 people worldwide.
Costs associated with the shutdown and decommissioning of Roche’s only Irish manufacturing plant at Clarecastle contributed to pre-tax losses soaring to €35.5m at Roche Ireland last year.
That is according to new accounts for Roche Ireland Ltd which reveal that environmental, decommissioning and demolition costs associated with the closure last year totalled €11.39m.
The loss also arose from Roche Ireland incurring a €11.5m exceptional cost concerning a wind-up of the company’s defined benefit pension scheme.
By March of last year, 95pc of the workforce at the site had departed and the company has now transitioned the site from a manufacturing site to a construction site.
The directors state that the decontamination and demolition works will continue until 2025.
The plant was once one of the most prestigious places of employment in the Midwest and the Swiss-owned pharma giant announced in 2016 that it was to close the plant at Clarecastle after it failed to secure a buyer for the site.
In line with the plant’s closure plan, the company ceased all manufacturing in 2019 and completed all sales of product by January 2020.
The phased closure resulted in revenues of €5.8m for 2020 compared to revenues of €50.3m for 2019.
The pre-tax loss last year of €35.5m followed a pre-tax loss of €8.8m in 2019.
The directors state that the Covid-19 pandemic did not have a significant impact of the progress of the decommissioning project.
The directors’ report states while the Clarecastle site was affected by the construction restrictions due to Covid-19, the project’s sub teams responsible for developing both the regulatory applications and tender package were working remotely to ensure the scheduled timelines were met.
They state: “No additional costs are expected because of the lockdown.”
Numbers employed reduced from 132 to 25.
Staff costs last year reduced from €16.5m to €4.4m. Two remained in management and 23 in production during 2020.
Directors’ pay last year increased from €350,000 to €414,000.
On the environmental costs of €4.8m, a note attached to the accounts states that during the year, the company incurred engineering costs relating to the remediation of the site’s landfill.
The company’s total ‘other cost’ bill for last year amounted to €12.89m and included other external charges of €3.5m and ‘other operating costs’ of €4.7m.
At the end of last December, Roche Ireland had accumulated profits of €6.12m.
The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2020 employed more than 100,000 people worldwide.
