NEW YORK, Oct. 25-Beckman Coulter said today that its third quarter 2002 sales increased 5 percent from Q3 2001 to $501 million, a figure that fell short of the company's projected 10 percent sales increase for the quarter.
The instrumentation company blamed the weak pharmaceutical and biotechnology research markets for the disappointing growth figures, and said that its life science research sales were down by about 5 percent as compared to the third quarter of 2001. Stronger sales in clinical diagnostics and currency changes helped buoy the numbers.
Profits for this quarter were $32.1 million or 49 cents per share, down slightly from the $33 million or 52 cents per share that Beckman Coulter earned in the comparable period in 2001.
Beckman Coulter spent $47.8 million on R&D during the past quarter, up from the $45.9 million the company spent in the third quarter of 2001.
CEO and President John Wareham said in a statement the company expected sales to grow at about 5.5 to 6.5 percent in 2003.
Beckman Coulter is based in Fullerton, Calif. For further details see the company quarterly report.