NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – PerkinElmer said after the close of the market on Thursday that its first quarter revenues were up 5 percent year over year.
The Waltham, Mass.-based company said that for the three months ended March 30, revenues grew to $531.9 million from $505.4 million in the year-ago quarter, edging out the consensus analyst estimate of $531.3 million.
Its Human Health segment posted a 6 percent increase in revenue year over year to $299.5 million from $281.3 million, while its Environmental Health segment grew 4 percent to $232.4 million from $224.0 million.
In Human Health, the diagnostics business grew in the high-single digits organically, driven by demand for newborn screening and infectious disease solutions, PerkinElmer CFO Andy Wilson said on a conference call following the release of the firm's financial results. Medical imaging was essentially flat year over year, he said.
The research business grew in the mid-single digits organically on growth in the pharma/biotech end market. Academia and government funding was "choppy" in developed regions, Wilson said, though there are indications that improvement could come in the second half of 2014.
The firm recorded a profit of $34.2 million, or $.30 per share, for the quarter, compared to a profit of $32.2 million, or $.28 per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS of $.46 beat the average analyst estimate of $.44.
PerkinElmer reduced its R&D spending in the first quarter by 14 percent year over year to $29.4 million from $34.2 million, while it increased its SG&A costs 1 percent to $153.2 million from $151.5 million a year ago.
During Q1, the company inked an agreement with Good Start Genetics to expand access to the GoodStart Select menu of genetic carrier screening tests. On the call, PerkinElmer Chairman and CEO Rob Friel also said that the firm signed a contract with the National Health and Family Planning Commission in China to be the exclusive partner in a three-year newborn screening project covering more than 600 rural communities and providing training to more than 3,000 doctors and lab technicians. The deal will employ PerkinElmer's detection technologies, knowledge, and infrastructure.
Friel added that the contract is not anticipated to be a significant revenue generator in the short term, but it "plants some seeds, and then we'll see revenue probably in 2015 and beyond."
Overall, he said that for the quarter, "financial results exceeded expectations with organic revenue growth of 5 percent, strong operating cash flows, and significant increases in operating margins and adjusted EPS growth of 28 percent. We're benefitting from strong demand for our differentiated solutions and improving trends in many of our end markets compared to last year."
The company finished the quarter with $224.1 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Wilson said on the call that for the second quarter, PerkinElmer expects adjusted revenues to be in the range of $565 million to $575 million. Adjusted EPS is anticipated to be between $.57 and $.59.
For 2014, the company raised its anticipated adjusted EPS to a new range of $2.42 to $2.46 from a prior range of $2.40 to $2.45.
In Friday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of PerkinElmer were down around 2 percent at $43.21.