NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - Meridian Bioscience today provided financial guidance for fiscal-year 2013 and reaffirmed its 2012 guidance given just a month ago.
The Cincinnati-based diagnostics firm said that it expects revenues for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2013, to be in the range of $190 million to $195 million. It also anticipates per-share diluted earnings to be between $.86 and $.91.
At the end of July, Meridian lowered its full-year 2012 EPS guidance to a range of $.78 to $.81 on projected revenues of $171 million to $175 million. That was trimmed from previous guidance of EPS between $.85 and $.89 on revenues of between $183 million and $192 million.
"Our expectations for fiscal year 2013 are realistic and are based, in part, upon where the company expects its results to be for fiscal 2012, ending September 30," Meridian CEO John Kraeutler said in a statement. "Revenue increases using the mid-point of guidance are 11 percent, and are expected to be driven primarily by contributions from our illumigene molecular technology platform, organic growth coming from our Bioline Life Science unit, continued expansion of our managed care collaborative efforts that are designed to motivate physicians to test patients for H. pylori and, consistent growth from converting labs to testing with our rapid foodborne products."
Kraeutler noted that the revenue guidance includes contributions from the firm's tests for C. difficile, Group B strep, and a Group A strep test that is expected to be cleared for marketing in the US by the Food and Drug Administration around the start of the new fiscal year.
Meridian also noted that its guidance includes the expected effect of the Medical Device Tax, part of the Affordable Care Act legislation. Under that legislation, Meridian said the majority of its US diagnostics revenue will be taxed at 2.3 percent, resulting in a charge of over $2 million.