NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Thermo Fisher Scientific today reported that its fourth quarter 2013 revenues climbed 6 percent year over year with high- to mid-single digit growth across all three of its reporting segments.
The firm reported total revenues of $3.47 billion for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared to $3.26 billion for the fourth quarter of 2012. It beat the consensus analyst estimate of $3.31 billion for the quarter.
Sales for its Analytical Technologies segment increased 6 percent year over year to $1.14 billion from $1.08 billion. Its Specialty Diagnostics segment was up 5 percent to $833.3 million from $791.8 million in Q4 2012, and its Laboratory Products and Services segment saw sales increase 8 percent to $1.64 billion from $1.52 billion.
Thermo Fisher reported a profit of $342 million, or $.92 per share, for Q4 2013, versus net income of $376.4 million, or $1.07 per share, for Q4 2012. On an adjusted basis, its EPS was up 5 percent to $1.43 from $1.36, and it beat the average analyst estimate of $1.38.
Its R&D spending for the quarter increased 6 percent to $104.7 million from $98.5 million, and its SG&A expenses also increased 6 percent to $104.7 million from $98.5 million.
"Overall, it was an outstanding quarter by all measures," Thermo Fisher President and CEO Marc Casper said on a conference call following the release of the results. "In two end markets, industrial and applied and healthcare and diagnostics, we saw some improved market conditions in the quarter, and our businesses serving these customers grew in line with the company average."
He added that among pharma and biotech customers, Thermo Fisher had "an exceptional performance" in the quarter, growing by more than 10 percent in the quarter. Sales to academic and government end markets were down in the low-single digits, consistent with the first nine months of the year, said Casper.
For full-year 2013, Thermo Fisher posted revenues of $13.09 billion, up 5 percent from $12.51 billion in FY 2012. Analysts, on average, had predicted revenues of $12.93 billion.
Sales for the Analytical Technologies segment increased 3 percent to $4.13 billion, while sales for Specialty Diagnostics climbed 8 percent to $3.19 billion, and revenues for Laboratory Products and Services increased 5 percent to $6.35 billion.
Thermo Fisher's R&D spending for the year increased 5 percent to $395.5 million from $376.4 million, and its SG&A spending climbed around 3 percent to $2.91 billion from $2.83 billion.
The firm posted a FY 2013 profit of $1.27 billion, or $3.50 per share, compared to net income of $1.18 billion, or $3.43 per share, for FY 2012. On an adjusted basis, its EPS for the year increased 10 percent to $5.42 from $4.94 and beat analysts' consensus estimate of $5.36.
Casper said that the firm expects to complete the acquisition of Life Technologies "very shortly," and its working with US Federal Trade Commission to obtain final regulatory clearance. Thermo Fisher agreed to pay around $13.6 billion and assume $2.2 billion in debt to acquire Life Tech last April.
Thermo Fisher said that it expects to report adjusted EPS of between $6.70 and $6.90 for FY 2014 with revenues between $16.63 billion and $16.83 billion. That guidance includes the results of Life Tech from an assumed close date of early February.
The firm finished the year with $5.83 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
In Thursday morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange, shares of Thermo Fisher were up more than 2 percent at $114.45.