Wednesday April 28, 9:02 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: ABAXIS, Inc.
ABAXIS Reports Fourth Quarter Financial Results
SUNNYVALE, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- ABAXIS, Inc. (Nasdaq: ABAX - news), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today reported record product revenues for its fourth fiscal quarter ended March 31, 1999.
For the fourth fiscal quarter, revenues increased 12% to $3,482,000, compared with revenues of $3,116,000 for the same quarter last year. The Company reported a net loss of $883,000, compared to a net loss of $948,000 for the same quarter last year. Net loss per share for the quarter was $0.07 (calculated based on 13,958,000 shares) compared to a net loss per share of $0.08 (calculated based on 11,917,000 shares) for the same quarter last year. The fourth quarter of last year reflects the impact of the accretion feature imbedded in the company's preferred stock offering completed in July 1997. The increased number of shares in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 as compared to the same quarter last year was primarily due to the conversion of preferred stock in the quarter ended June 30, 1998.
For the twelve months ended March 31, 1999, revenues increased 10% to $13,347,000 compared with revenues of $12,187,000 for the same period last year. The Company reported a net loss of $4,210,000 compared to a net loss of $4,353,000 for the same twelve month period last year. Net loss per share for the twelve months ended March 31, 1999 was $0.31 compared to a net loss per share of $0.44 for the same period last year. The net loss per share for the twelve month period last year would have been $0.37 excluding the one-time impact of the conversion feature imbedded in the Company's 1997 preferred stock offering representing $0.07 per share.
Clint Severson, President and Chief Executive Officer of ABAXIS, commented, ''Our most significant accomplishment this quarter was an increase in our gross margin to 32% versus 23% for the quarter ending March 31, 1998. In addition, we achieved another significant increase in our gross margin on our reagent discs to 26% in the fourth quarter ending March 31, 1999 from 4% for the same period last year. Our primary objective this year was to focus our resources on improving manufacturing costs, and I believe we continue to make significant progress as a result. We sold a total of 165 new Piccolo and VetScan systems in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 compared to 274 for the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998. In addition, we shipped 50 instruments to MELET as part of our new OEM agreement. The primary reason for the decrease in instrument revenue shipments was attributed to slower sales in Japan and Latin America. We shipped a record 218,000 reagent discs during the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999 compared to 134,000 in the fourth quarter last year.''
''During the fourth quarter of fiscal 1999, shipments to our core market, the U.S. veterinary market, continued to grow. The revenue from this market increased 32% from the same quarter last year. In addition, our revenues to Europe increased 27% from the same quarter last year. These increases were offset by declines in our instrument revenues to Asia, which declined 80% and the U.S. military, which declined 52%. With the continued growth in our core markets, the U.S. and Europe, the introduction of our new Critical Care rotor and the expected launch of our new hematology instrument, the VetScan HMT, we believe that we have the momentum to reach quarterly profitability by the end of fiscal year 2000.''
Founded in 1989, ABAXIS develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 6.9 kilogram, portable analyzer and a series of 8-cm diameter single-use plastic disks, called reagent discs that contain all the reagents necessary to perform a fixed menu of tests. The system can be operated with minimal training and perform multiple tests on whole blood using either venous or fingerstick samples. The system provides test results in less than 14 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. The future events described in such statements involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to the market acceptance of the Company's products and the continuing development of its products, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale, general market conditions; competition; risks and uncertainties related to its ability to raise capital in order to fund its operations and other risks detailed from time to time in ABAXIS' periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
ABAXIS, Inc.
Summary Financial Information
(in thousands, except per share data)
Three Months Ended Twelve Months Ended
March 31, March 31, March 31, March 31,
1999 1998 1999 1998
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
Statements of
Operations Data:
Net revenues $3,482 $3,116 $13,347 $12,187
Costs and operating expenses:
Cost of product sales 2,357 2,400 9,530 10,461
Research and development 639 464 2,627 1,635
Selling, general and
administrative 1,369 1,264 5,352 4,741
Total costs and operating
expenses 4,365 4,128 17,509 16,837
Loss from operations (883) (1,012) (4,162) (4,650)
Other income, net -- 64 (48) 297
Net loss $(883) $(948) $(4,210) $(4,353)
Net loss per share
applicable to
common stock $(0.07)(a) $(0.08)(a) $(0.31)(a) $(0.44)(a)
Shares used in calculating
net loss per share 13,958 11,917 13,794 11,905
(a) Net loss attributable to common shareholders used in the computation
of loss per share for the three and twelve months ended March 31, 1999 and
March 31, 1998 was $971,000, $4,309,000, $994,000 and $5,233,000,
respectively.
Balance Sheet Data:
March 31, 1999 March 31, 1998
(Unaudited) (1)
Cash, cash equivalents and short-term
investments $5,426 $5,897
Total current assets 10,324 9,638
Property, plant and equipment, net 2,518 2,309
Other non-current assets 73 85
Total assets 12,915 12,032
Current liabilities 4,497 3,886
Long term liabilities 889 263
Total shareholders' equity 7,529 7,883
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity 12,915 12,032
(1) Derived from the Company's audited financial statements
SOURCE: ABAXIS, Inc. |
