This post has been updated to include comment from a Genoptix spokesperson.

By Kirell Lakhman

Genoptix yesterday said its planned lab expansion will cost $9.5 million — around $1.5 million, or 19 percent, more than a projection it made in July.

The specialized clinical lab disclosed the updated expansion cost — but not that it represents and increase — in its third-quarter earnings release, which showed a 58-percent rise in revenue and a 40-percent increase in net loss.

The planned lab expansion, which is to begin in the current quarter, “is now expected to cost approximately $9.5 million, with approximately $4 million to be spent in 2009 and the remainder in the first half of 2010,” Genoptix said in a statement.

In July, the company said the expansion “is expected to cost approximately $4 million in 2009 and an additional $4 million in the first quarter of 2010.”

A Genoptix spokesperson told me the added expense "was the product of moving further along in the planning process related to tenant improvements necessary for revitalizing the new facility," which is adjacent to the company's headquarters in Carlsbad, Calif.

"The first figure of approx $8 million was a rough estimate made at the start," she said. "The new figure is much closer to actuals."

In its statement, Genoptix said projected capital expenditures for full-year 2009 were unchanged at $8.5 million, of which around $4.5 million will be for maintenance capital.

As for its earnings, the shop said total receipts for the three months ended Sept. 30 increased to $50.8 million from $32 million year over year. Q3 revenue includes $4.4 million from “changes in accounting estimates resulting primarily from strong cash collections related to prior period revenue.” Q3 ’08 revenue included a $2.5 million benefit, the company said.

CEO Tina Nova said the increase was due to a jump in sales and new customer acquisitions, “even during what is typically the slower summer vacation season."

At the end of the quarter the company was servicing approximately 1,300 community physicians nationwide and managing more than 14,700 patient cases, a 45-percent increase year over year, she added.

Genoptix said it expects 2010 revenues to be $235 million, or nearly double the $116 million it made in 2008, its first full year as a public company.

The company held around $137.8 million in cash, equivalents, and short-term investments as of Sept. 30.