NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – GenMark Diagnostics reported after the close of the market on Tuesday that its revenues in the fourth quarter fell 31 percent year over year, but the company still beat the average Wall Street estimate on the top and bottom lines.
The Carlsbad, Calif.-based molecular diagnostics firm reported $6.5 million in total revenues for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2013, compared to $9.4 million in the year-ago fourth quarter and besting the consensus Wall Street estimate of $6.1 million.
GenMark said that the decrease was due to a drop-off in purchases from Natural Molecular Testing Corp. (NMTC) in the recently completed quarter, which was offset by "significant growth" in both reagent and instrument revenue from other customers.
NMTC had once been GenMark's largest customer, but in June NMTC inked a multiyear collaboration and licensing agreement with Luminex, which led to GenMark severing its relationship with NMTC. As a result, GenMark recorded no NMTC revenues in Q4 2013. By comparison in the year-ago period, NMTC made up 57 percent of GenMark's revenues, the company said.
NMTC subsequently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late October.
Excluding NMTC-related revenues, GenMark's "base business" increased 58 percent year over year in Q4 2013, the company said.
Total reagent revenues were down 35 percent year over year to $5.9 million from $9.1 million, while reagent revenues from GenMark's "base business" grew 56 percent.
Instrument and other revenues doubled to $600,000 from $300,000 in Q4 2012, driven by sales of the company's XT-8 system. GenMark placed a total of 38 net new analyzers in Q4 2013, bringing the total installed base to 413. Of the 38, 10 were sales, GenMark President and CEO Hany Massarany said on a conference call following the release of the firm's financial results.
He added that in 2014 GenMark projects 125 XT-8 placements.
The company's net loss in the quarter was $10.6 million, or $.26 per share, compared to a net loss of $4.7 million, or $.15 per share, a year ago. On a non-GAAP basis, GenMark had a net loss of $.21 per share, edging out the consensus Wall Street estimate of a net loss of $.22 per share.
Its R&D costs rose 54 percent year over year to $6.3 million from $4.1 million, while its SG&A costs were up 33 percent to $6.9 million from $5.2 million a year ago.
For full-year 2013, GenMark posted total revenues of $27.4 million, up 34 percent from $20.5 million in 2012. Analysts had anticipated, on average, $27.0 million in revenues for 2013.
The company said that excluding NMTC-related revenues, its "base business" revenues were up 120 percent year over year to $19.2 million. NMTC represented about 30 percent of GenMark's total revenues in 2013, the company's CFO Richard Slansky said on the call.
Reagent revenues grew 29 percent year over year to $25.3 million from $19.6 million, and instrument sales grew more than three-fold to $1.7 million from $500,000 a year ago, the company said.
Its net loss for 2013 was up to $33.6 million, or $.95 per share, compared to a net loss of $22.1 million, or $.84 per share, in 2012. On a non-GAAP basis, GenMark had a net loss of $.82 per share, beating the consensus analyst estimate of $.89.
Its R&D spending increased to $22.1 million, a growth of 64 percent from $13.5 million in 2012, while its SG&A costs grew 41 percent year over year to $24.3 million from $17.2 million.
GenMark finished 2013 with $35.7 million in cash and cash equivalents.
For full-year 2014, the firm projects revenues to be about $25.0 million, which would represent a 30 percent increase from the company's "base business" revenues, Slansky said.
In Wednesday morning trade on the Nasdaq shares of GenMark were down around 5 percent at $11.51.