NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – Sigma-Aldrich said today that its third quarter revenues were up 4 percent year over year.
The company reported total revenues of $690 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, up from $664 million in Q3 2013 and in line with the average analyst estimate of $689.8 million.
The Research business unit posted $347 million in revenues, up from $341 million a year ago, Applied revenues grew to $170 million from $154 million, and SAFC Commercial revenues increased to $173 million from $169 million.
The company, which is in the process of being acquired by Merck KGaA for $17 billion, saw its profits for the quarter slip to $108 million, or $.90 per share, from $119 million, or $.98 per share, a year ago. Adjusted EPS was $1.06 matching the consensus Wall Street estimate.
Sigma-Aldrich's R&D costs increased 6 percent year over year to $17 million from $16 million, while its SG&A spending inched up 1 percent to $152 million from $150 million. The firm also recorded other charges of $25 million, compared to $10 million a year ago.
The company said it had $886 million of cash and cash equivalents at the end of the third quarter.
Sigma-Aldrich President and CEO Rakesh Sachdev said in a statement that all three business units posted the best organic sales growth of the year in the quarter. In its Research unit, sales to the US academic end market had its best growth rate since 2011, while sales in China continued to grow in the double digits. Additionally, the diagnostics and testing segment of the Applied unit and the life science services segment of the SAFC Commercial unit also had double-digit sales growth in Q3, he said.
In morning trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday, shares of Sigma-Aldrich were down a fraction of 1 percent at $135.50.