NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – PerkinElmer after the close of the market on Thursday reported a 1 percent dip year over year in its first quarter revenues, though on a constant-currency basis it had revenue growth of 5 percent.
For the three months ended March 29, 2015, PerkinElmer's revenues decreased to $526.9 million from $530.6 million in the prior-year period. Adjusted revenues for the quarter were $527.2 million compared to $532.1 million for Q1 2014, as the firm fell short of the average Wall Street estimate for revenues of $537.9 million.
Revenues for the company's human health business for the quarter were down around 1 percent at $326.1 million from $330 million last year, while revenues for its environmental health business increased slightly to $200.8 million from $200.6 million.
In spite of the dip in revenues, Robert Friel, PerkinElmer's chairman, president, and CEO, said during a conference call following the release of the financials that the company "experienced growth in every business across all major geographies" with increasing demand from Europe and stable demand across Asia-Pacific.
The company reported 3 percent organic growth for the quarter, with 4 percent organic growth coming from its human health business and 2 percent organic growth for its environmental health business. CFO Frank Wilson added that the company's Q1 organic revenue increased mid-single digits in the Americas, and low-single digits in Europe and Asia with high-single digit growth in China.
He added that the company's human health business represented 62 percent of the reported revenue in the quarter, with diagnostics representing 29 percent and research representing 33 percent of reported revenue for that segment.
Organic revenue growth for PerkinElmer's diagnostics business increased mid-single digits compared to high-single digit growth in the first quarter a year ago, while organic revenue for the research business grew in the low-single digits.
Diagnostics growth was driven by "strong demand" for the company's newborn and infectious diseases testing solutions in emerging markets, Wilson said, while the research business benefited from new product launches and improved demand for the company's automation systems, as well as its OneSource and informatics offerings.
PerkinElmer posted net income of $40.3 million, or $.36 per share, for the quarter, compared to net income of $34.2 million, or $.30 per share, for Q1 2014. On a non-GAAP basis, its EPS was $.50, beating analysts' average estimate of $.46.
The firm's R&D expenses climbed 9 percent to $32.1 million from $29.4 million, while its SG&A spending declined around 4 percent to $145.9 million from $152.4 million.
For Q2 2015, the company expects reported revenues to range from $550 million to $560 million with organic revenue growth of 3 to 4 percent. Adjusted earnings per share for the quarter is expected to range from $0.57 to $0.59.
PerkinElmer said that it expects to report adjusted earnings per share of $2.54 to $2.60 for Fiscal Year 2015. The current guidance assumes that the stronger US dollar will negatively impact adjusted earnings per share for 2015 by a total of $.23 as compared to previous guidance of $.15. Reported revenues for the full year are expected to be in the range of $2.24 billion to $2.29 billion.
The company exited the quarter with $168.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, and $1.6 million in marketable securities and investments.
Following the call, Mizuho Securities raised its price target on PerkinElmer's stock to $58 from a previous target of $50, while UBS analyst Jon Groberg upped his target on the stock to $57 from a previous $53 target.
In Friday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of PerkinElmer were up around 2 percent at $52.48.