At the time of writing - and the situation is fluid - Yokneam-based Given Imaging (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN) is outside the line of fire of Katushya missiles. Nevertheless, the company has moved to allay its foreign investors’ concerns following the launch of attacks against communities and towns in northern Israel. At present, however, production is, however, continuing as usual at its Yokneam plant, and the company is certainly staying in Israel.
Given Imaging, which specializes in detecting gastrointestinal disorders through its PillCam video capsules said yesterday that it was shifting inventory of PillCam capsule endoscopes and Given Diagnostic Systems to the US and Europe in light of current events in Israel. If required, the company has a back-up production facility in Ireland that can be utilized immediately for full production.
Given Imaging CFO Yuval Yanai said, “The investors asked us questions. They don’t really understand what’s going on here. So we informed them of the back-up plan that we have had for some time. It is not new. We have shifted our inventory abroad ahead of schedule. Usually, the inventory remains in Israel following production and is only distributed to our subsidiaries at a later stage. This time, we are moving it immediately rather than storing it here.
"We do not have any additional costs because of this, since the inventory would in any case be shipped abroad at some point or another. Naturally, we hope that we won’t need to operate the production line in Ireland. Fortunately for us, our production is capital intensive, rather than labor intensive, so we won’t find ourselves having to relocate production workers or make changes at the company.”
Globes: Are the workers reporting for work?
Yanai:”Naturally, not all of them have turned up but overall we have not suffered any substantial harm and we hope to remain outside the line of fire.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on July 20, 2006
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