Tuesday September 18, 2:53 pm Eastern Time
Bruker wins contract for biological agent detector
CHICAGO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Bruker Daltonics Inc. (NasdaqNM:BDAL - news), maker of equipment used to detect agents used in biological warfare, on Tuesday said it won a $10 million U.S. Defense Department contract for its devices.
Bruker, a Billerica, Mass.-based company which serves the life sciences industry, stands to benefit from the heightened concerns about biological warfare in the wake of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, one analyst said.
``I think the current world situation could lead to increased instrument orders of this type,'' said Scott Greenstone, who follows the company for Thomas Weisel Partners, New York.
Bruker's contract had been initiated before last week's attacks, said Greenstone, who does not plan to revise his estimates for the company's upcoming third quarter of 1 cent per share earnings on revenues of $22 million.
``There is a lot of interest in this,'' said Michael Willett, investor relations officer for the company. ``If the market continues to expand, as it looks like it's going to, we have more new products to be released.''
Willett said the company is well-poised to meet any increased industry demand. ``We are not a start-up here. We are probably the leader in certain sectors. The armies know who we are. We are very well known by our allies in the Middle East,'' he said.
The contract was valued at $10 million, with revenue expected to spread over five quarters, from the second quarter of 2002 to the second quarter of 2003. Bruker said it was not raising profit or revenue targets but the contract gave it ``additional visibility'' related to financial projections for 2002 and 2003.
Under the award, Bruker Daltonics will provide the U.S. Army with its Chemical Biological Mass Spectrometers, which are used to detect biological warfare agents. The devices work by measuring the weight of air molecules. After a biological or chemical agent is detected, it is classified by Bruker bioinformatics software.
Willett said the company's equipment was used extensively in the Gulf War. It is also used by a number of sectors with security needs, including law enforcement.
Despite its roots in defense-related products, only about 5 percent of Bruker's current revenues are derived from the devices, Greenstone said. Most of Bruker's products are focused on industrial biology, Willett said.
Shares of Bruker rose 2.89 percent, or 39 cents, to $13.90 in Tuesday afternoon trade on the Nasdaq, off a year-high of $47.31
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