Background: S. aureus is a common and serious cause of bloodstream infections with high mortality rate. Objective: To assess the resistance profiles of S. aureus bloodstream isolates to commonly used antimicrobial agents. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated all the cases of S. aureus bacteraemia over a two year period from October 2009 through October 2011. Blood samples were routinely obtained in BacTec bottles (aerobic and anaerobic) and incubated in BACTEC 9050 system. Coagulase production, detection of DNase activity onto DNA agar, API STAPH and automated MicroScan system were used for Staphylococcus identification. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed by disc diffusion technique on Mueller-Hinton agar according to CLSI recommendations and MICs were determined by MicroScan system and Etest (AB Biodisk, Solna, Sweden). Results: During the study period 61 cases of S. aureus bacteraemia were identified. Of the total bloodstream isolates 36.07% (22/61) were found to be methicillin-resistant (MRSA), and 63.93% (39/61) methicillin-susceptible (MSSA). Extended susceptibility testing of the 61 isolates to erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, rifampicin, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (SXT), gentamicin, vancomycin, teicoplanin, linezolid and daptomycin showed the following resistance rates: 72.73%, 68.18%, 63.63%, 18.18%, 63.63%, 0%, 4.54%, 18.18%, 9.09%, 0%, 0%, 0% for MRSA and 12.82%, 7.69%, 12.82%, 2.56%, 5.13%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0% for MSSA respectively. Two of the MRSA bloodstream isolates (2/22) showed increased vancomycin MICs (MICs = 3 μg/ml confirmed by Etest) according to CLSI new susceptibility breakpoint (MIC breakpoint for vancomycin has been reduced to 2 μg/ml). Conclusion: (a) A significant rate of S. aureus bloodstream isolates is methicillin-resistant. (b) The MRSA isolates demonstrate a high resistance rate to erythromycin, clindamycin, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, whereas a small proportion shows increased vancomycin MICs. (c) MRSA blood isolates remain daptomycin susceptible, even with a vancomycin MIC >2 μg/ml.