ANIK earnings + Stock repurchase plan:
WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 22, 1998--Anika Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:ANIK - news) today reported net income for the third quarter ended September 30, 1998 of $741,000, or $.07 per diluted share, versus a loss of $267,000, or $0.05 per diluted share, for the same period last year. Revenues for the third quarter of 1998 rose to $3,180,000 from $1,584,000 for the comparable period in 1997.
Results for last year's third quarter reflected a temporary delay in product shipments caused by defective syringes supplied by a third-party vendor. The delay resulted in a backlog of approximately $1,000,000 which had the impact of reducing earnings for that quarter by $.08 on a diluted basis.
For the first nine months of 1998, net income was $3,580,000, or $.32 per diluted share, versus $286,000, or $.02 per diluted share, for the corresponding period in 1997. Revenues for the year-to-date period increased 77 percent to $10,530,000 from $5,962,000 for the same period last year. Results for the current nine-month period include a licensing payment of $1.5 million from Zimmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Bristol-Myers Squibb, Inc. during the second quarter.
''We are pleased with our strong financial results for the quarter,'' said J. Melville Engle, president and chief executive officer. ''Sales of AMVISC(R) products to Bausch & Lomb Surgical remain strong and international ORTHOVISC sales continue to grow. We look forward to further commercialization of ORTHOVISC internationally and Zimmer's upcoming launch in Europe.''
Additionally, the company announced that its board of directors has approved a stock repurchase plan under which the company is authorized to purchase up to $4,000,000 of Anika stock, with the total number of shares purchased not to exceed 9.9 percent of the total issued and outstanding shares. Under the plan, shares may be repurchased from time to time and in such amounts as market conditions warrant and subject to regulatory considerations.
''We believe that the repurchase of Anika shares is an excellent use of the company's cash given Anika's current stock valuation,'' Engle said.
ORTHOVISC is currently being sold in Canada, Spain and Turkey and has received the CE Mark facilitating sale throughout the European Union. Anika has a marketing and distribution agreement with Zimmer, potentially worth up to $26.5 million in licensing payments in addition to revenues from product sales. Anika has granted Zimmer ORTHOVISC distribution rights in the U.S., Canada, most of Europe, select Asia-Pacific markets and Latin America. To date, the company has received $4.5 million in licensing payments from Zimmer. ORTHOVISC is distributed in Spain and Portugal through Grupo Ferrer Internacional, S.A.
Anika develops, manufactures and commercializes therapeutic products and devices intended to promote the protection and healing of bone, cartilage and soft tissue. These products are based on hyaluronic acid (HA), a naturally occurring, bio-compatible polymer found throughout the body. Anika's currently marketed products consist of ORTHOVISC for the treatment of osteoarthritis in humans and HYVISC(R) for the treatment of equine osteoarthritis. Anika also manufactures AMVISC and AMVISC Plus, HA products used as viscoelastic supplements in ophthalmic surgery, for Bausch & Lomb Surgical. Therapies currently under development include INCERT(R), an HA product designed to prevent post-surgical adhesions and HA oligosaccharides for the treatment of cancer. Anika is also collaborating with Orquest, Inc. to manufacture OSSIGEL(tm), an injectable formulation of basic fibroblast growth factor combined with HA designed to accelerate the healing of bone fractures. |
