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Esta página no está disponible en español. Irish Independent Galen Abandons Ardee Plans In Favour Of Puerto Rico Site By Charlie Weston May 13, 2004 PLANS by Northern Ireland-based pharmaceutical company Galen to create 200 jobs in Ardee, Co Louth, have been shelved after it decided to buy a manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico instead. Efforts by Galen to build the tablet-making facility in the Co Louth town had been dogged by planning problems. When the company eventually won a planning appeal to build the factory, a market gardener in the area sought a judicial appeal in the High Court. Yesterday, Galen executive chairman Dr John King admitted that Galen had now dropped its plans for the Ardee plant, despite the tax advantage of having a plant in the Republic. "Unfortunately, because of the planning difficulties in Ardee we have decided to move to Puerto Rico. It is unfortunate from a personal standpoint." Earlier this month Galen said it had bought a 270,000 sq ft manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico from Pfizer in a move that would reduce its reliance on third-party production. Galen did not reveal the purchase price, but Davy analyst Jack Gorman pointed out that Puerto Rico was effectively a tax haven. Analysts had been told the Craigavon-headquartered company would reduce its overall tax rate from 30pc to below20pc once the Puerto Rico facility is up and running. Releasing second-quarter results yesterday, Galen also said it was changing its name to Warner Chilcott, the name used in the US. Galen is now entirely focused on the US market. Dr King admitted the company had licensed the Galen name to its founder, Dr McClay. Dr McClay (71) has now acquired almost all the operations of Galen which it had before it bought out Warner Chilcott for around $350m (€296m) from Elan four years ago. The Craigavon company yesterday reported that its pre-tax profits more than doubled to$48m in its second quarter to the end of March. Profits were $20.4m in the same periodlast year. Product sales were up 55pc to $138.2m, while earnings per share jumped by 84pc to29.6 cents.
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