NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Becton Dickinson reported today that its fiscal year 2019 first quarter revenues rose 35 percent year over year due to continued effects of the acquisition of C.R. Bard and growth across all three of its business segments.
For the three months ended Dec. 31, the company posted revenues of $4.16 billion, compared to $3.08 billion in the year-ago quarter, beating Wall Street analysts' average estimate of $4.11 billion. On a currency-neutral basis, revenues grew 5 percent, the firm said. The results were consistent with preliminary earnings issued last month.
"We are very pleased with the strong start to fiscal 2019," said Chairman and CEO Vincent Forlenza on a conference call with analysts following the release of the earnings. He noted that the results were driven largely by the timing of certain tax items and better-than-expected mid-single digit growth across all three segments. Furthermore, "it is evident that the combination of BD and Bard is delivering value to our customers, patients, and shareholders," Forlenza said.
Revenues from BD's medical segment increased 16 percent to $2.14 billion from $1.85 billion a year ago, primarily due to the Bard acquisition. Growth was 5 percent on a comparable, currency-neutral basis.
The company's life sciences business recorded $1.06 billion in revenues, up from $1.05 billion in Q1 2018, an increase of 1 percent, or 5 percent currency-neutral growth excluding revenues associated with divestiture of the Advanced Bioprocessing business.
Within the life sciences segment, pre-analytical systems revenues were up around 5 percent to $393 million from $375 million, while diagnostic systems revenues were relatively flat at $382 million, and biosciences revenues were down 3 percent to $281 million from $289 million.
Life sciences growth was offset by a headwind related to the strength of last year's influenza season as well as a tough comparison to the prior year for Kiestra installations. Within the diagnostic systems, performance was driven by BD's instrumented microbiology platforms, including blood culture and ID-AST, and the BD Max molecular platform, BD CFO Christopher Reidy said on the call.
The firm's president of the life science segment, Patrick Kaltenbach, further noted that the BD life sciences segment grew close to 15 percent in China in Q1, and the firm expects further growth over the coming year. "There is a lot of investment in healthcare and pharma, but also a lot of investment in research" in China, Kaltenbach said.
Revenues from the company's US business rose 44 percent to $2.39 billion from $1.66 billion a year ago, while revenues from international markets were up 25 percent to $1.77 billion from $1.42 billion. International revenue growth was driven by strong performance in China and the rest of Asia, as well as in Latin America.
BD recorded a net income for the quarter of $562 million, or $2.05 per share, compared to a net loss of $174 million, or $0.76 per share, a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company reported Q1 EPS of $2.70, beating the consensus Wall Street estimate of $2.62 per share.
Q1 R&D expenses jumped 39 percent year over year to $258 million from $191 million. SG&A costs jumped 35 percent to $1.10 billion from $773 million a year earlier.
For fiscal year 2019, the firm said it expects revenues to increase 8.5 to 9.5 percent, due primarily to the CR Bard acquisition, and expects fiscal year diluted earnings per share of $12.05 to $12.15. Analysts are expecting earnings of $12.12 per share in fiscal 2019.
In fiscal Q1, BD obtained US Food and Drug Administration clearance for two new assays — the BD Phoenix CPO test for carbapenemase-producing antibiotic resistant bacteria on the BD Phoenix automated microbiology system and an enteric viral panel on the BD Max system that completes the firm's suite of molecular tests for the detection of gastrointestinal bacteria, parasitic, or viral pathogens.
BD shares were down about 1 percent to $244.55 in Tuesday morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.