TECH misses by a penny:
>>MINNEAPOLIS, Jan 29, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- For the three months ended December 31, 2001, Techne's (Nasdaq: TECH chart, msgs) consolidated net income increased 21% to $8,434,635 or 20 cents per share (diluted), compared with $6,982,510 or 16 cents per share (diluted) in the second quarter of last year. The improvement in earnings was primarily the result of increased sales. For the three months ended December 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated sales were $31,136,911, an increase of $4,448,245 or 17% from the second quarter of last year. R&D Systems' Biotechnology Division net sales increased 19% to $19,718,623 from $16,585,983 and R&D Systems' Hematology Division net sales increased 4% to $3,823,229 from $3,677,677. R&D Europe's net sales increased 18% to $7,595,059 from $6,425,006.
For the six months ended December 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated net income increased 16% to $16,859,416 or 40 cents per share (diluted), compared with $14,485,560 or 34 cents per share (diluted) in the first six months of last year. The improvement in earnings was also primarily the result of increased sales. For the six months ended December 31, 2001, Techne's consolidated sales were $60,979,577, an increase of $6,569,348 or 12% from the first six months of last year. R&D Systems' Biotechnology Division net sales increased 13% to $39,084,357 from $34,506,898 and R&D Systems' Hematology Division net sales increased 4% to $7,472,822 from $7,185,894. R&D Europe's net sales increased 13% to $14,422,398 from $12,717,437.
Revenues for the second quarter rebounded from depressed first quarter levels which were impacted by the events of September 11. Earnings also rebounded but were slightly less than expected due to higher selling, general, administrative and research expenses and lower interest income. Research expenses included losses of $105,000 and $277,000 from operations, respectively, of Discovery Genomics and ChemoCentryx, early stage companies in which Techne has investments. New product releases for the first six months of fiscal year 2002 totaled 555 compared to 567 for all of fiscal year 2001. The business is back on track and fiscal year 2002 should be another record year for Techne.
As previously announced, in early January Techne suffered a setback in its litigation with Amgen, Inc. when the Court granted summary judgment to Amgen in the amount of approximately $28 million. The dispute concerns agreements entered in 1991 and shipments of research grade Epo received in 1998 and 1999. The Court has amended its original 30 day stay of entry of judgement and has stated that it will not enter judgement while it retains jurisdiction over breach of contract claims which might affect the amount of the judgement. Techne continues to contest the matter vigorously and intends to appeal any final judgment against Techne. Due to the uncertain status of the matter, the amount of the judgment has not been booked as an expense but may be booked in the future in accordance with applicable accounting principles. Regardless of the final outcome of the litigation, no sales of products or future operations of the company will be affected.
Statements in this earnings release and elsewhere which look forward in time involve risks and uncertainties which may affect the actual results of operations. The following important factors, among others, have affected and, in the future, could affect the Company's actual results: the introduction and acceptance of new biotechnology and hematology products, the levels and particular directions of research into cytokines by the Company's customers, the impact of the growing number of producers of cytokine research products and related price competition, the retention of hematology OEM and proficiency survey business, the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations, the outcome of litigation involving the Company and the costs and results of research and product development efforts of the Company and of companies in which the Company has invested or with which it has formed strategic relationships. For additional information concerning such factors, see the Company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Techne Corporation has two operating subsidiaries: Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (R&D Systems) of Minneapolis, Minn. and R&D Systems Europe, Ltd. (R&D Europe) of Abingdon, England. R&D Systems is a specialty manufacturer of biological products and R&D Europe is a distributor of biotechnology products.
TECHNE CORPORATION
12/31/01
(UNAUDITED)
QUARTER ENDED SIX MONTHS ENDED
12/31/01 12/31/00 12/31/01 12/31/00
Net sales $31,136,911 $26,688,666 $60,979,577 $54,410,229
Cost of sales 8,028,285 6,766,978 15,576,227 13,571,167
Gross margin 23,108,626 19,921,688 45,403,350 40,839,062
Operating expenses:
Selling, general &
administrative 4,833,875 4,154,722 9,369,792 8,629,248
Research &
development 4,309,273 3,594,500 8,299,007 6,863,209
Amortization of
intangible assets 2,137,311 2,222,313 4,274,623 4,444,627
Interest expense 334,819 350,009 673,524 703,634
Interest income (913,287) (835,366) (1,876,012) (1,520,216)
10,701,991 9,486,178 20,740,934 19,120,502
Earnings before
income taxes 12,406,635 10,435,510 24,662,416 21,718,560
Income taxes 3,972,000 3,453,000 7,803,000 7,233,000
Net earnings $8,434,635 $6,982,510 $16,859,416 $14,485,560
Earnings per share:
Basic $0.20 $0.17 $0.41 $0.35
Diluted $0.20 $0.16 $0.40 $0.34
Weighted average
common shares
outstanding:
Basic 41,486,607 41,457,269 41,461,183 41,436,094
Diluted 42,540,904 42,840,275 42,536,336 42,800,185
12/31/01 6/30/01
ASSETS
Cash and cash equivalents $30,083,514 $21,267,791
Short-term investments 77,095,648 75,804,077
Other current assets 26,989,856 27,119,641
Property and equipment (net) 53,377,051 49,193,972
Intangible assets (net) 23,171,623 27,446,246
Other non-current assets 17,321,959 14,693,386
Total assets $228,039,651 $215,525,113
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities $13,834,993 $15,891,556
Long-term debt 17,585,587 18,050,289
Other non-current liabilities 1,961,500 3,923,000
Stockholders' equity 194,657,571 177,660,268
Total liabilities & equity $228,039,651 $215,525,113<<
Cheers, Tuck |
