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Biotech / Medical : Biotech & Pharma.T.A, -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jibacoa who wrote (550)	3/5/2004 1:35:16 PM
From: Jibacoa	Respond to of 3722

NBSC Responded well today after releasing its 4thQ and Yr.end results yesterday. The stock traded above its Nov.26 H of 6.43, it is down some from its intraday H of 6.75 at 11.23AM. But it is still up about 12% for the day.<g> bigcharts.marketwatch.com New Brunswick Scientific Co., Inc., Reports 2003 Fourth-Quarter and Year-End Financial Results Thursday March 4, 5:36 pm ET Management Sees Improving Business Trends Continuing into 2004 EDISON, N.J., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New Brunswick Scientific Co., Inc. (Nasdaq: NBSC - News), today announced financial results for the 2003 fourth quarter and for the full year ended December 31, 2003. The level of sales recorded for the 2003 fourth quarter was the highest in the last six quarters at $15.6 million, an increase of 5.4%, compared with $14.8 million in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross margin declined slightly to 40.7% from 41.9% in the 2002 quarter but was up significantly from the first three quarters of 2003 as the rate of production increased. Research, development and engineering costs rose 17.6% compared with last year's fourth quarter, as the Company continued to invest in the development of new products. After a difficult period, one in which the Company reported losses for the first three quarters of 2003 due to the weakness in the market for life science equipment, it appears that the market has finally turned around. As a result, the Company achieved net income for the 2003 fourth quarter of $894,000, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared with net income of $914,000, or $0.11 per diluted share earned in the same period a year ago. Although sales improved significantly in the fourth quarter, for the full year, net sales declined 13.7%, to $49.4 million, compared with last year's $57.2 million. The Company could not overcome in one quarter the earlier weakness in demand and reduced capital spending by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The Company sustained a net loss of $1.5 million, or $0.17 per diluted share for the year, compared with net income of $2.6 million, or $0.30 per diluted share in 2002. On November 14, 2003, the Company completed the acquisition of RS Biotech Laboratory Equipment Limited, a U.K. designer, developer and manufacturer of CO2 Incubators, which has a significant presence in the U.K. marketplace and is presently ramping up sales in many other countries but sells virtually no units in the United States, thereby presenting the Company with an important opportunity for future growth. David Freedman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of New Brunswick Scientific, said, "Throughout most of the year sluggish demand produced margin pressures that penalized profitability and earnings. During the latter part of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter our business began to experience steady improvement. This turnaround is gaining momentum and we are encouraged by the Company's near-term outlook. Our backlog is 35% greater than it was at the end of last year. The improvement in business continues to be driven by orders for our new sterilizable-in-place fermentors and Innova 44 incubator shakers, as well as by improving export sales. Assuming present business trends continue to build, the outlook looks bright and the Company currently anticipates that it will be profitable for 2004," Mr. Freedman concluded.