Thermo Fisher Scientific achieves record first quarter results
Analytical Technologies Segment revenues increased 9%, Laboratory Products and Services Segment revenues up 1%
Thermo Fisher Scientific reported record revenues of US$2.72bn for the first quarter of 2011, 4% higher than the previous year’s $2.63bn. Adjusted earnings per share rose by 12% to a record $0.92, compared with $0.82 in the first quarter of 2010and the adjusted operating margin also improved substantially to 17.6%.
Acquisitions increased revenues by 2%, and the favourable effect of currency translation added a further 1%. Adjusted operating income for the first quarter of 2011 increased by 5% compared with the same period om 2010.
Highlights of the period ended 2 April 2011 included the launch of innovative software and instrumentation to broaden life sciences, environmental and safety applications, and accelerated investment in emerging markets with plans to build new manufacturing facility in China to serve local life sciences customers.
Just after the end of the quarter, the company sold two laboratory-testing services businesses – Athena Diagnostics and Lancaster Laboratories – resulting in total proceeds of $940m. It has also spent $538m to buy back 9.6 million shares and has authorised an additional $750m share repurchase programme, with $700m remaining at quarter end.
‘We are off to a good start to the year, with solid first quarter performance,’ said Marc N. Casper, president and ceo of Thermo Fisher Scientific. ‘We achieved record EPS and delivered 30 basis points of adjusted operating margin expansion on top of our exceptional first quarter results a year ago. This puts us in an excellent position to meet our growth goals for 2011.’
Analytical Technologies Segment revenues increased 9% to $1.18bn, compared with $1.08bn in the first quarter of 2010. Segment adjusted operating income increased by 11%, and adjusted operating margin increased to 21.0%, compared with 20.6% in the 2010 quarter.
Laboratory Products and Services Segment revenues rose by just 1% to $1.69bn from $1.67bn in the first quarter of 2010. Segment adjusted operating income was flat in the first quarter of 2011, and adjusted operating margin decreased to 13.7% from 13.9% in 2010.
‘Our ability to consistently deliver strong EPS growth is based on our focus on innovation, emerging markets and PPI (Practical Process Improvement),’ added Casper. ‘We continued to expand our presence in Asia-Pacific markets, and announced plans to open another new facility in China next year, where we will produce laboratory consumables for local life sciences customers.
‘Our continuous efforts to increase productivity through our PPI and PPI-Lean programmes drove our margin expansion.’
