NEW YORK, March 1 (GenomeWeb News) - Genetix Group today said today that it has laid off around 10 percent of its staff at the end of 2004 despite a 13-percent increase in 2004 net sales and a 103-percent jump in profits.
The total number of employees let go was not immediately known.
The UK-based company said net sales for the 12 months ended
Genetix said that instrumentation sales were £9.2 million in 2004, an increase of 25 percent from 2003. Consumables and services accounted for £3 million in sales in 2004, down 14 percent from the prior year.
The company posted a pre-tax profit of £900,000 in 2004, up 103 percent from the prior year. It spent £1.5 million on R&D in 2004, up slightly from £1.4 million in the prior year.
In a statement, CEO Mark Reid said the company "began the process of strengthening our strategic focus on the cell biology market, concentrating on systems that accelerate drug target validation and product development. We believe that these areas will provide a platform for growth over the coming years."
Genetix's main product lines are the ClonePix mammalian cell colony picker; the aQuire scanner for imaging cells, tissue, and protein arrays; and the QArray and QPix microarrayer products.
The company finished 2004 with a cash balance of £22.2 million.
Genetix Group is headquartered in New Milton, UK, and its stock is traded on the London Stock Exchange.