Pretax Profits Down 26% At Nycomed

Nycomed of Norway has reported a decline of 26% in pretax profits for the first half of 1996 to 678 million Norwegian kroner ($463 million). Operating revenues were just under 3 billion kroner, down 6.3%.

The main reasons for the decline were said to be the intensified price pressure in the US contrast agent market, and in the therapeutics area, slightly lower export sales to Japan and lower revenues in Denmark, in addition to the sale of the cosmetics business in May 1995.

In the first half of 1996, Nycomed's imaging business achieved operating revenues of 2.44 billion kroner, down 5.3%, while the pharmaceutical business posted revenues of 1.57 billion kroner, a decline of 7%. Nycomed Imaging's operating profit was just over 1 billion kroner, compared with 1.21 billion kroner a year earlier, and Nycomed Pharma achieved operating profit of 253 million kroner, down 20%.