| To: kendall harmon who wrote () | 2/4/1999 10:37:00 PM | | From: kendall harmon | | | |
Positive comments from the company
Thursday February 4, 5:34 pm Eastern Time
INTERVIEW-Boron LePore exec. retires, stock slides
By David Brinkerhoff
NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - The No. 2 executive at Boron, LePore & Associates Inc., which provides pharmaceutical information to doctors, retired from his post Thursday, helping to send its shares tumbling 43 percent.
Shares fell to $16.125 per share, down $12.625 on Nasdaq.
Chief Operating Officer Greg Boron, a co-founder of the Fair Lawn, N.J.-based firm, said the company's financial health was solid.
He said the stock went into free fall because it missed analysts' expectations and Wall Street was worried about uncertain revenue streams for the first and second quarters of this year.
''The company is very solid on meeting analyst expectations for '99,'' of $1.10 per share, Boron told Reuters in an interview. ''What we haven't been able to pinpoint is at what point clients will be dropping in.''
''Our revenue stream for Q1 and Q2 is a little cloudy right now,'' he added.
The company earlier missed Wall Street expectations for the 1998 fourth quarter after reporting profits of $0.24 per diluted share. Most analysts had expected the company to earn $0.25 per share.
The company acquired several new clients in the second half of 1998, it said in a statement.
Boron, who also served on the board of directors, called Wall Street's disappointment an overreaction. ''I have 5.7 percent of outstanding shares of common stock and I'm going to hang on to it,'' he said.
Boron said he will continue to consult for the company and pursue other projects.
He said no other top management departures were expected.
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| To: kendall harmon who wrote () | 2/4/1999 10:40:00 PM | | From: kendall harmon | | | |
Earlier this year Tom Bleakley of the Nicholas Applegate
Emerging Growth Fund
nacm.com, provides the
following stock ideas on Boron, LePore &
Associates (BLPG 29 3/4).
Many drug companies are pumping out more
and more new drugs each year. When a new
product is put out by a large pharmaceutical
company, the sales force of that company
usually focuses on that new product and
sometimes less focus is put on existing
products. Boron, LePore & Associates
(BLA) is a company that will help will pick up
the slack if a pharmaceutical company needs
help promoting new or existing products.
BLA provides outsourced promotional,
marketing, and educational services to the
pharmaceutical industry.
"BLA has won a number of contracts," says
Tom Bleakley of the Nicholas Applegate
Emerging Growth Fund, "They are being
driven by a large number of pharmaceutical
and drug products coming onto the market."
Tom thinks BLA will grow earnings around
35% to 40% annually over the next couple of
years and sees $0.80 for 1998 and between
$1.10 and $1.20 for 1999. He adds that
BLA will most likely sign some more
contracts between now and the end of this
year, which should give some upside to
earnings expectations for next year. "I would
not be surprised to see it trading in the $45
area within the next 12 months," he says.
Note that the COO has now backed the lower end of these estimates, coming in at 1.10. This produces a traget of 40 at least!
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| To: kendall harmon who wrote () | 2/4/1999 10:45:00 PM | | From: kendall harmon | | | |
Bloomberg story on BLPG
Fair Lawn, New Jersey, Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Boron, LePore & Associates Inc. shares fell 44 percent after the marketing company for the drug industry said its chief operating officer is leaving and its fourth-quarter earnings were a cent below estimates.
The company's shares fell 12 5/8 to 16 1/8, making it the third-biggest percentage decliner on U.S. markets.
Fourth-quarter revenue was lower than expected, and the company has provided limited information about what it expects for the first half of this year after losing business from Glaxo Wellcome Plc in the fourth quarter, analysts said. This, coming as Chief Operating Officer Gregory Boron announces his resignation, is causing uncertainty about the company's growth, analysts said. ''Concerns exist over management's ability to replace the discontinued Glaxo contract with new business,'' said James Patricelli, an analyst at Dain Rauscher Wessels, in a report. ''Near-term visibility has been clouded due to uncertainty in the timing and magnitude of business activity in the first half of 1999.''
Patricelli cut his rating on the stock to a ''buy'' from a ''strong buy'' and lowered his earnings estimate for 1999 to 90 cents, down from $1.10.
Founder Quits
The company said Gregory Boron, a founder of the Fair Lawn, New Jersey-based company, is leaving ''to pursue personal interests.'' Boron is 47.
Boron, LePore also said it had net income of $3.1 million, or 24 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, up from $2.7 million, or 25 cents, in the year-ago period, following an increase in the company's shares outstanding. The company was expected to earn 25 cents, based on the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp.
While Gregory Boron said that the company expects 1999 earnings to be in line with estimates, he said the company didn't give many specifics about what it expects for different segments of its revenue. This may be causing investors to question whether the company can continue to expand rapidly, he said. ''Where we didn't necessarily stand up and beat our chest as in the past is (about) the flow of revenue and where it is coming from,'' said Boron, who plans to continue as a consultant with the company, in an interview. ''We need to continue to diversify our client line.''
The company is expected to earn $1.10 a share in 1999, based on the average estimate of four analysts polled by First Call.
Boron, who informed the board of directors of his resignation yesterday, said that he's not planning to sell any of the 721,000 shares he owns in the company. 'Overreaction' ''One man's opinion is that this is a significant overreaction,'' he said. Boron said he's planning to work in the consulting industry for a while rather than looking for another executive position.
Revenue at the company rose 84 percent to $42.8 million from $23.3 million. The amount was less than some analysts were estimating.
Vivek Khanna, an analyst at Salomon Smith Barney, said in a report this morning that he had expected the company to have revenue of $44 million in the quarter. As a result, Khanna, who released the report before the company's earnings conference call, said he's reducing his 1999 earnings estimates to a range of 95 cents to $1.00, down from $1.07.
The company said in October that it had lost contracts with drugmaker Glaxo Wellcome Plc, then its largest customer, to provide arrangements for large speaker training meetings and advisory panels. ''Although we were successful, during the fourth quarter, at replacing symposia business with revenue from new and existing clients, entering 1999, the magnitude and timing of some of this business is undefined,'' said Patrick LePore, chairman and chief executive, in a statement.
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| To: kendall harmon who wrote (4) | 2/4/1999 11:07:00 PM | | From: jsquibb | | | |
after getting a piece of the conference call to analysts, the problem appears to be a refusal to project earnings, profit, new contracts (key to blpg), etc... for the next year.
i have been a holder and profit taker of blpg, on sound fundamentals, over the last 12 months, but this is fishy. will buy back on sound projections. |
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| To: kendall harmon who wrote () | 2/4/1999 11:11:00 PM | | From: kendall harmon | | | |
Earlier today we learned that
--Dain Rauscher lowered its 1999 revenue estimate to $175 million from $192 million, and lowered its 1999 earnings per share estimate to $0.90 from $1.10.
But now a top official from the company says they are comfortable with 1.10 a share for 1999. So presumably now this same analyst should up his rating since his estimates are now over 20% low for the year.
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| To: kendall harmon who wrote () | 2/4/1999 11:20:00 PM | | From: kendall harmon | | | |
Comments from Dave Twidell
BLPG - I agree wholeheartedly Kendall, the selling on BLPG looks way overdone. Revenues were up sharply and although earnings missed estimates by .01, they still showed substantial growth. Strong buying throughout the day except for the last hour when someone unloaded a large position through INCA. Blocks near the close and last minute uptick indicates the position was closed, so I would expect a strong gap at the open and a continued recovery over the near term.
Dave
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