Thursday January 22, 8:59 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
ABAXIS Reports Third Quarter and Nine Months Results
Second Consecutive Quarter of More Than $3 Million Net Revenues, Nine-Month Revenues Increase 85 Percent, Nine Month Net Loss Reduced by 32 Percent
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 1998-- ABAXIS Inc. (Nasdaq:ABAX - news), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, Thursday reported results for its third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 1997.
For the third fiscal quarter, revenues increased 60% to $3,030,000, compared with revenues of $1,891,000 for the same quarter last year. The company reported a net loss of $996,000 for this quarter, a 21% reduction, compared with a net loss of $1,260,000 for the same quarter last year.
Net loss per share for the quarter was $0.09 on approximately 11,917,000 shares. Net loss per share for the same quarter last year was $0.23 per share on approximately 10,410,000 shares. The increased number of shares was primarily due to an equity financing which was concluded in the quarter ended in December 1996.
For the nine months ended Dec. 31, 1997, revenues increased 85% to $9,071,000, compared with revenues of $4,915,000 for the same period last year. During this nine-month period, the company reported a net loss of $3,405,000, a 32% reduction, compared with a net loss of $4,994,000 for the same nine-month period last year.
Net loss per share for the nine-month period improved 44% to $0.36 on approximately 11,905,000 shares, compared with a net loss per share for the same period last year of $0.64 per share on approximately 10,052,000 shares.
Clint Severson, president and chief executive officer of ABAXIS, commented: ''We are very pleased with third-quarter results. We recorded a second consecutive quarter of revenue growth in excess of $3 million. Although revenues were slightly lower than last quarter due to changes in product mix, record unit sales of 282 new Piccolo and VetScan analyzers were achieved through higher penetration of the markets in our core business.
''This was achieved without any large sales to end-user customers as the company had experienced in the prior three quarters. During the quarter, record shipments of approximately 124,000 reagent discs once again exemplified how well we performed according to our razor/razor blade business model.
''Record shipments in both analyzers and reagent discs further demonstrates the strong demand and acceptance of our products in the marketplace. In addition to top-line performance, we continued to reduce our net operating losses by increasing our factory efficiency and controlling operating expenses.''
''Gross margin improvement to 14 percent this quarter,'' continued Severson, ''was another noteworthy achievement, especially on slightly lower revenues compared to last quarter. Our increased unit sales and improved manufacturing efficiencies more than compensated for the lower revenues.
''Our marketing strategy remains focused on those market segments where our current products offer a significant improvement over other blood analysis testing products. We plan to strengthen our market presence by adding to our sales force both domestically and internationally.
''Operationally, our immediate goal is to meet increasing customer demand while working to improve our manufacturing processes which will in turn increase throughput and reduce costs. We have made strong strides toward our goals this quarter as exhibited by our improved gross margin, but we need to make continuous improvement in our manufacturing efficiency in order to meet our anticipated demand.
''Our new automated production line is in the acceptance testing stage, and if all goes according to our expectations, we will bring this line to our facilities at the beginning of the next quarter to start the validation process. This new line will significantly increase our manufacturing capacity and allow us to meet greater future demand for our reagent discs.
''Concurrently, we are working diligently to develop additional methods to provide an increasingly complete menu of chemistry tests. We have completed the feasibility studies of the four electrolyte test methods. We are now in the production scale-up phase to test the manufacturability of these new methods. Once manufacturing scale-up analysis is successfully completed, we expect to go into clinical trials sometime in the next quarter.''
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 news 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 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
ABAXIS Inc.
Summary Financial Information
(In thousands, except per-share data)
Three Months Ended Nine Months Ended
Dec. 31, Dec. 31,
(Unaudited) (Unaudited)
1997 1996 1997 1996
Statements of Operations Data:
Net revenues $ 3,030 $ 1,891 $ 9,071 $ 4,915
Costs and operating
expenses:
Cost of product sales 2,600 1,860 8,061 5,471
Research and development 428 327 1,171 1,036
Selling, general and
administrative 1,089 1,088 3,477 3,682
Total costs and operating
expenses 4,117 3,275 12,709 10,189
Loss from operations (1,087) (1,384) (3,638) (5,274)
Other income, net 91 124 233 280
Net loss $ (996) $(1,260) $(3,405) $(4,994)
Net loss per share
applicable to common
stock (a) $ (0.09) $ (0.23) $ (0.36) $ (0.64)
Shares used in
calculating net loss
per share 11,917 10,410 11,905 10,052
(a) Loss attributable to common shareholders used in the computation
of loss per share for the three and nine months ended Dec. 31, 1997,
was $1,080,000 and $4,239,000, respectively. Loss attributable to
common shareholders used in the computation of loss per share for
the three and nine months ended Dec. 31, 1996, was $2,388,000 and
$6.4 million, respectively.
Balance Sheet Data:
Dec. 31, 1997 March 31, 1997
(Unaudited) (a)
Cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments $ 7,157 $ 5,321
Total current assets 10,873 9,444
Property, plant and equipment,
net 2,323 2,453
Other non-current assets 85 80
Total assets 13,281 11,977
Current liabilities 4,250 2,619
Long-term liabilities 275 --
Total shareholders' equity 8,756 9,358
Total liabilities and
shareholders' equity 13,281 11,977
(a) Derived from audited financial statements.
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Contact:
ABAXIS Inc., Sunnyvale
Ting Lu, 408/734-0200
or
Coffin Communications Group
John Muir, 818/789-0100 |
