NEW YORK ( GenomeWeb) – Danaher reported today a 4 percent year over year increase in total revenues paced by a 10 percent jump in the Life Sciences business.
For the three months ending March 29, total revenues were $4.88 billion compared to $4.70 billion in the year-ago period. It beat the analysts' average estimate of $4.79 billion.
Core revenue growth was 5.5 percent year over year. M&A added 2.5 percent to growth while currency effects decreased revenues by 4 percent, the firm said.
Revenue growth was driven by Danaher's Life Sciences business, the largest of its four businesses, where revenues increased to $1.63 billion in Q1 2019 from $1.48 billion in Q1 2018, the company said in its 10-Q filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, the Diagnostics business inched up 1 percent year over year to $1.54 billion from $1.52 billion.
In Life Sciences, Beckman Coulter Life Sciences core revenues were up in the double digits, Danaher President and CEO Thomas Joyce said on a conference call, with broad-based strength across most major regions and product lines.
Meanwhile, Sciex, which houses the mass spectrometry business, was up in the low single digits.
In Diagnostics, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics core revenues grew in the mid-single digits, led by immunoassays and automation, Joyce said, adding Danaher is seeing early positive impact in hematology from new product introductions. He noted, in particular, that Beckman Coulter recently received 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration for its DxH 520 hematology analyzer, which is designed for low-volume laboratories.
Joyce further highlighted that new products for the low- and mid-volume laboratories will be forthcoming over the next year to two years, along with new menus.
Separately, Beckman Coulter also announced today that its Early Sepsis Indicator hematologic biomarker has been cleared by the FDA.
Cepheid, however, was down "slightly," Joyce said, against a tough year-ago comparison driven by last year's "severe flu season." He noted that Cepheid's installed based continues to grow and is "gaining momentum in North America."
Excluding flu and certain high-growth businesses, Cepheid was up in the double digits year over year, Danaher CFO Matt McGrew said on the call.
Among Danaher's remaining businesses, Dental was down 2 percent to $659.7 million from $672.6 million, while the Environmental & Applied Solutions business ticked up 3 percent to $1.06 billion from $1.03 billion.
In Q1, Danaher's R&D spending grew 4 percent to $310.8 million from $298.7 million. Its SG&A costs grew 5 percent to $1.68 billion from $1.60 billion.
The company posted a profit of $327.3 million, or $.46 per share, in the recently completed quarter compared to a profit of $566.6 million, or $.80 per share, in Q1 2018.
On a non-GAAP basis, EPS for Q1 2019 was $1.07 and beat the consensus Wall Street estimate of $1.01.
The firm finished the quarter with $3.91 billion in cash and cash equivalents.
For Q2, Danaher projected EPS to be in the range of $.89 to $.92. Adjusted EPS is expected to be in the range of $1.13 to $1.16.
The company lowered its EPS guidance for full-year 2019 to a new range of $3.34 to $3.42 from a previous guidance of $3.85 to $3.95. Adjusted EPS is now expected to be in the range of $4.72 to $4.80 compared to a previous range of $4.75 to $4.85. Danaher said the new guidance reflects dilution expected from its recent equity offerings to fund the GE Biopharma acquisition, partially offset by its Q1 performance.
The $21.4 billion deal, announced in February, remains on track to be completed in Q4, Joyce said.
In early morning trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, Danaher's shares were up almost 3 percent to $128.07.