Apogent reports (already?). I haven't posted the numbers, but provide the industry related verbiage. Noting that lab equipment & instrumentation has not been doing well for the past year, but did improve a bit lately. Consumables, however, are booming right along:
>>PORTSMOUTH, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 14, 2002--Apogent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AOT - News), a leading manufacturer of clinical diagnostic and life science research products, today reported record financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2002.
"Record sales of $284 million this quarter, an increase of 9.6%, were driven by our fiscal 2002 acquisitions and by continued double-digit growth rates in our life science consumable products, which are used in cell culture, toxicology testing, drug discovery, and other research applications. For the year, we surpassed for the first time $1.0 billion in sales, an increase of 9.4%, reflecting our ability to grow even in difficult industry conditions," stated Frank H. Jellinek, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Apogent. "Reported fourth quarter fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations were 34 cents. Pro forma earnings per share from continuing operations were 35 cents for the fourth quarter, in line with our guidance."
Mr. Jellinek continued, "As these results indicate, the fundamental elements of our strategy have proven effective and are still sound. Our strategy has been to maximize profit growth by combining high margin, modest internal growth businesses with focused, low risk acquisitions. These businesses generate consistent and significant levels of cash flow from operations, which we will continue to utilize to augment shareholder returns. We have developed a management team that understands this strategy, believes in it, and has exhibited the ability to execute it. Given this as a base, we are excited about our business prospects for the next year."
FOURTH QUARTER AND FISCAL YEAR 2002 FINANCIAL RESULTS
Net Sales
Effective September 30, 2002, the Company adopted the Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF) Issue No. 00-10, Accounting for Shipping and Handling Fees and Costs, which requires all amounts charged to customers for shipping and handling to be classified as sales revenues. Accordingly, all historical sales revenue amounts have been adjusted to reflect these changes. The costs related to shipping and handling are classified as selling expense in selling, general and administrative expense. Please refer to Schedule 5 attached to this press release for the quarterly impact of this reclassification.
Net sales for the fourth quarter were $284 million, an increase of 9.6% over the fourth quarter of last year. Quarterly comparisons of net sales by business segment are as follows:
Quarters Ended 9/30 (in 000's)
Business Segment 2002 2001 Variance
Clinical Diagnostics $133,675 $122,177 9.4%
Labware and Life Sciences 119,034 106,361 11.9%
Laboratory Equipment 31,781 30,998 2.5%
TOTAL $284,490 $259,536 9.6%
Increases in Clinical Diagnostics sales for the quarter were driven, principally, by fiscal 2002 acquisitions. With the exception of microbiology and European microscope slide sales, which were strong for the quarter, the balance of this segment reported soft internal sales growth compared to last year.
Labware and Life Sciences sales growth of 11.9% was supported by double-digit growth in life science consumable products and by fiscal 2002 acquisitions. Growth in this segment was offset by continued softness in the life science instrumentation business.
Laboratory Equipment reported its first quarter of positive growth in net sales since the third quarter of last year.
Apogent's net sales for its fiscal year 2002 were $1.07 billion, an increase of 9.4% over fiscal year 2001. Annual comparisons of net sales by business segment are as follows:
Years Ended 9/30 (in 000's)
Business Segment 2002 2001 Variance
Clinical Diagnostics $514,342 $469,438 9.6%
Labware and Life Sciences 439,345 385,810 13.9%
Laboratory Equipment 120,932 126,919 (4.7%)
TOTAL $1,074,619 $982,167 9.4%
For the year, Clinical Diagnostics sales growth was attributable to strong performances in microbiology, anatomical pathology, European microscope slides and disposable glass culture tubes, and acquisitions. Offsetting these strong sales performances was continuing weakness in drugs of abuse testing -- both rapid tests and reagents.
The Labware and Life Sciences segment had another excellent year in net sales growth driven primarily by life science consumable products, such as, pipette tips, microtitre plates and cell culture products. Reducing the overall benefit of the strong consumable sales, sales of life science instrumentation finished approximately 25% behind fiscal year 2001.
Despite an improvement in the fourth quarter, the Lab Equipment segment was not able to achieve last year's sales levels. We believe that capital budgets for mid-priced capital equipment were pared back this year at our customers including biotech, pharmaceutical, and industrial accounts and that this reduction in spending unfavorably influenced year over year sales growth.
Apogent's annual sales by geographic area are as follows:
Years Ended 9/30 (in 000's)
Geographic Area 2002 2001 Variance
North America $792,154 $744,783 6.4%
Europe 190,451 161,073 18.2%
Asia 77,755 69,417 12.0%
Other 14,259 6,894 106.8%
TOTAL $1,074,619 $982,167 9.4%
snip
Cheers, Tuck |
