1997 was a year of substantial expansion for Trinity. It was another year of record results. In the previous year, we posted a loss of US$792,000, while this year we posted a US$1.2m profit, a difference of US$2m.
The driving force behind this improvement was a substantial increase in revenues which rose from US$7.1m in 1996 to US$16.8m in 1997. Trinity's revenues increased by 142% due to increased sales of its own proprietary products coupled with revenues from its acquisitions of Clark Laboratories Inc. and Centocor UK Holdings Ltd.
Trinity's own product sales grew 40% during the year to US$10m while Clark and Centocor contributed approximately US$7m in revenues. Both acquisitions made earnings contributions during the year. This is particularly significant in the case of Centocor as this was a loss making entity prior to acquisition.
While Trinity reported revenues of US$16.8m, its invoiced revenues were greater. This discrepancy arises from exchange rate fluctuations.
Trinity has decided to change its reporting currency from IR£ to US$. From 1998 onwards Trinity will report in US$ only. This should eliminate any major exchange rate fluctuation in the near future and will make our financial statements easier to read for our US investors.
The assets of the company increased substantially in the period from US$13.6m to US$24m. This is due to the acquisitions we made during the year and the improved performance of the Company. It has also given rise to a significant increase in liabilities from US$3m to US$17m. This increase can be broken down into a number of factors including deferred payments and debentures issued relating to the acquisition of Centocor, the loan to purchase the new facility in Dublin, a general increase in liabilities from increased activities and the additional liabilities from Clark and Centocor.
Shareholders equity decreased from US$10m to US$7m and this is due the fact that Trinity writes off goodwill arising on acquisitions against reserves. Trinity incurred a goodwill charge of US$12m during the year which was writen off against reserves rather than carried in the balance sheet.