Bruker this week reported a 29 percent jump in first-quarter revenues year over year, posting $357 million in revenues, compared to $277.7 million in the first quarter of 2010.
The company's Bruker Scientific Instruments Segment, which contains its mass spectrometry products, saw revenues climb to $335.8 million, a 29 percent rise from $260.3 million a year ago.
In a statement, Bruker President and CEO Frank Laukien said that new order bookings increased 40 percent year over year, and the firm ended the first quarter with a new backlog record.
"Overall, our end markets are healthy, and with our 2010 and recent new product introductions and strategic acquisitions, we have further diversified our end markets," he said.
In a conference call discussing the earnings report, Laukien mentioned the company's acquisition of chromatography firm Michrom Bioresources, which it closed on April 4, noting that the firm's CaptiveSpray nanospray ion sources would be "particularly useful for proteomics" and would be on display at the upcoming American Society for Mass Spectrometry's annual conference in Denver this June.
"The longer-term strategic focus [of the Michrom buy] will be on LC-MS rather than broadly trying to enter the LC market," he added.
Bruker ended the quarter with a profit of $11.3 million, or $.07 per share, down from $16.1 million, or $.10 per share, a year ago.
During the quarter, the company's R&D spending rose to $44.7 million from $32.8 million, a 36 percent hike. The firm's SG&A spending increased 35 percent to $88.7 million from $65.6 million a year ago.
Bruker ended the quarter with $196.3 million in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash.