Thermo Posts 21-Percent Q3 Revenue Growth, Driven by Life and Lab Unit

NEW YORK, Oct. 27 (GenomeWeb News) - Thermo Electron yesterday reported a 21-percent surge in revenues for the third quarter, driven primarily by its Life and Laboratory Sciences segment.

Revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totaled $542.3 million, up from $448.6 million during the same period last year. The company's Life and Laboratory Sciences unit, which includes mass spectrometry systems for proteomics research, booked $383.2 million in revenues--almost a third above the $301.8 million it took in during the same period last year. Revenues for the Measurement and Control unit increased to $159.1 million, from $145.6 million last year.

R&D expenses increased slightly, to $32.9 million from $30.4 million during the year-ago quarter.

Third-quarter earnings jumped to $106.5 million, or $.66 per basic share, from $48.5 million, or $.30 per basic share, for the year-ago period. This increase included a gain of $.40 per basic share from discontinued operations, primarily from the sale of its Spectra-Physics business, and tax benefits from another business sold previously.

Earnings per share from continuing operations totaled $.26 per share for the quarter, up from $.24 per share during last year's third quarter.

As of Oct. 2, Thermo had $335.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $90.2 million in short-term available-for-sale investments.