Cook Medical employs 664 people here
US president Donald Trump. Photo: AP
Cook Medical has a large customer base of hospitals and clinics. Photo: Getty
The costs associated with Donald Trump’s tariffs policy will, where possible, be passed onto the US customers of medical device firm Cook Medical.
That is according to the directors at one of the largest employers in the mid-west, Cook Ireland Ltd, which employs 664 people at Limerick’s National Technology Park.
New accounts show that Cook Ireland returned pre-tax profits of €13.95m in 2024 compared with a pre-tax loss of €5.4m in 2023.
The return to profit for the US-headquartered firm followed revenues increasing by 12pc from €127.14m to €142.96m.
The company had a post-tax profit of €17.35m after recording a corporation tax credit of €3.4m and this arose chiefly as a result of a €4.75m research and development (R&D) tax credit.
The company’s R&D spend last year was €25.7m and numbers employed increased from 662 to 664 as staff costs decreased slightly from €41.72m to €41.69m.
Aggregate pay to directors almost doubled from €750,607 to €1.4m as the number of directors increased from three for the bulk of 2023 to five last year.
The company paid dividends last year of €500,000 compared with a dividend payout of €1.8m in 2023.
In their directors’ report which was signed off ahead of Mr Trump and the European Commission reaching an agreement on a 15pc tariff for EU goods on July 27, they say that “based on the 10pc tariff currently in place on shipments between our European manufacturing sites and our US distribution entities, management does not foresee a significant direct impact on the entities’ business activities or its going concern”.
Cook Medical has a large customer base of hospitals and clinics. Photo: Getty
In the report signed off on July 14, the directors say “there has been no change in the sales prices of the European manufacturers relating to the tariffs and currently the position of the US group entities is that the extra tariff being borne by them, will be passed on to the customer where possible”.
“Cost-saving initiatives are also being actioned to make up any difference between the extra tariff cost and what can be passed to the US-based customers,” they add.
Separate accounts for the Limerick-based Cook Medical EMEA Group show the company recorded a post-tax loss of €93.5m in 2024.
The group has manufacturing plants in Limerick and Denmark, and the loss arose mainly from a €166m tax charge connected to a Danish tax matter specific to Cook Denmark International Holdings ApS.