NEW YORK(GenomeWeb News) – Agilent Technologies said after the close of the market on Thursday that revenues for its fiscal fourth quarter were $1.81 billion, up 5 percent from $1.72 billion in Q4 2013 and matching the consensus Wall Street estimate.
The company had $1.91 billion in orders for the quarter and year ended Oct. 31, up 4 percent from $1.83 billion a year ago.
The results included Keysight Technologies, formerly Agilent's electronic measurement business, which it spun off Nov. 1.
Its Life Sciences and Diagnostics segment recorded $612 million in revenues in the quarter, up 2 percent from $601 million a year ago. Orders were up 4 percent to $665 million from $642 million a year ago.
Chemical Analysis revenues increased 5 percent to $431 million, compared to $412 million a year ago, while orders were up 8 percent to $480 million from $445 million. Its Electronic Measurement revenues were up 8 percent to $762 million from $705 million, and orders rose 2 percent to $760 million from $742 million.
Agilent's profit for Q4 FY 2014 dropped to $16 million, or $.05 per share, from $211 million, or $.63 per share, a year ago.
Agilent had pre-separation costs of $70 million, intangible amortization of $47 million, a net loss on extinguishment of debt of $68 million, mostly non-cash charges of $68 million related to exiting the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance business, and a tax expense of $13 million during the quarter. Excluding these items and $15 million of other net charges, adjusted EPS was $.88, narrowly missing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $.89.
The company had R&D costs of $189 million in the quarter, up 9 percent from $173 million a year ago. Its SG&A spending rose 19 percent to $534 million from $450 million.
"Our LDA business finished the year strong, with record revenues and orders," Agilent CEO Bill Sullivan said in a statement. "We are excited about Agilent’s future as a company focused one hundred percent on the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied markets, with innovative new product rollouts planned for this year and market trends looking positive."
For full-year Fiscal 2014, Agilent said that revenues were up 3 percent to $6.98 billion from $6.78 billion, just below the average analyst estimate of $6.99 billion.
Orders for the year were up 4 percent to $7.13 billion from $6.83 billion.
The firm's net income for the year dropped to $497 million, or $1.47 per share, compared to $724 million, or $2.10 per share, in FY 2013. Adjusted EPS was $3.04, missing the consensus Wall Street estimate of $3.06.
Agilent upped its R&D spending 2 percent during the year to $719 million from $704 million in FY 2013. Its SG&A spending was up 9 percent to $2.04 billion from $1.88 billion a year ago.