| View printer-friendly version |
Charles River Reports Continued Growth in Sales and Earnings
WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BW HealthWire)--Feb. 14, 2001--Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE:CRL -news) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Charles River Laboratories, Inc., reported today that sales increased 33% in the fourth quarter of 2000 over the prior year, driven by strong growth in customer demand for the Company's products and services that support drug discovery and development. Sales for the fourth quarter were $81.1 million, a $19.9 million increase over fourth quarter 1999 sales of $61.2 million. Net income for the quarter was $4.4 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, exceeding the consensus First Call estimate of $0.09 per share. Excluding a one-time charge for capacity adjustments in Europe, EPS for the fourth quarter was $0.13.
For 2000, the Company's sales increased 33% to $306.6 million, an increase of $75.2 million over sales of $231.4 million in 1999. Net income before an extraordinary loss related to the early retirement of debt in connection with Charles River Laboratories International's IPO was $17.9 million, or $0.56 per diluted share. Excluding a one-time benefit of $4.8 million, or $0.15 per share, related to an income tax valuation adjustment, and the one-time charge for capacity adjustments of $1.3 million or $0.02 per share, earnings before extraordinary items would have been $0.43 per share. Net loss after the extraordinary loss was $11.2 million, or $0.35 per diluted share. Net income for 1999 was $17.1 million, or $0.86 per diluted share.
The Company's sales increase over the prior year was impacted favorably by strategic acquisitions and investments, which complemented solid growth in the Company's research models segment, and continued growth in its biomedical products and services segment. On a pro forma basis (adjusted to give effect to completed acquisitions), sales increased 15% in the fourth quarter and 10% for the total year. Excluding the impact of foreign currency fluctuations, pro forma sales increased 20% in the fourth quarter and 12% for the total year.
Commenting on these results, James C. Foster, Chairman and CEO, said ``We're extremely pleased with our results for the fourth quarter, and the total year. We experienced strong demand for all of our products and services in the pre-clinical enabling technology space. Drug discovery and development activities continued to grow, and we see continued positive trends in outsourcing and pre-clinical work. We are delighted with our recent acquisition of PAI, the world's leader in contract animal pathology. PAI is an important strategic addition to our services portfolio, and we expect it to be neutral to 2001 EPS, and accretive to this year's EPS exclusive of transaction goodwill charges. We're also very pleased to have signed a definitive agreement last week to acquire Primedica Corporation, a leader in the pre-clinical services field. We expect this acquisition to close later this month, and to add $0.03 to our fully diluted EPS in 2001. Primedica had sales of $52 million in the first nine months of 2000.''
The following forward-looking guidance is subject to the qualifications set forth below and gives effect to the PAI acquisition. This guidance does not give effect to the pending Primedica acquisition. For 2001, Charles River estimates sales growth to exceed 20%. Fully diluted EPS for 2001 is estimated to be in the high sixty cents range. In the first quarter of 2001, Charles River expects sales in the range of $88 million to $92 million, and fully diluted EPS in the range of $0.16 to $0.18.
Charles River Laboratories, based in Wilmington, Massachusetts, is a leading provider of critical research tools and integrated support services that enable innovative and efficient drug discovery and development. The Company is the global leader in providing the animal research models required in research and development for new drugs, devices and therapies. The Company also offers a broad and growing portfolio of biomedical products and services that enable customers to reduce cost, increase speed, and enhance productivity and effectiveness in drug discovery and development. Charles River's customer base spans over 50 countries, and includes all of the major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, as well as many leading hospitals and academic institutions. The Company operates more than 66 facilities in 15 countries worldwide.
This document contains ``forward looking statements.'' Such statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by the forward looking statements, including contaminations, industry trends, new displacement technologies, outsourcing trends, USDA and FDA regulation, changes in law, acquisition integration risks, special interests groups, continued availability of products and supplies, personnel and control, and others that are described in the Risk Factors contained in Company's Registration Statement of Form S-1, as filed on June 23, 2000, and as may be updated from time to time in the Company's periodic SEC filings. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward looking statements, and otherwise claims the ``safe harbor'' protections for forward looking statements afforded under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
As previously announced, investors can access a live webcast of
the fourth quarter earnings conference call through a link that will
be posted on the investor page of the Charles River Laboratories
website, www.criver.com. The conference call begins on
Thursday, February 15, at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and will be
available thereafter for replay.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME (UNAUDITED)
(dollars in thousands except for per share data)
Three Months Ended Year Ended
Dec. 30, Dec. 25, Dec. 30, Dec. 25,
2000 1999 2000 1999
Total net sales $81,058 $61,162 $306,585 $231,413
Cost of products sold
and services provided 50,520 40,344 186,654 146,729
Gross margin 30,538 20,818 119,931 84,684
Selling, general and
administrative 15,838 10,351 51,204 39,765
Amortization of
goodwill
and intangibles 932 842 3,666 1,956
Operating income 13,768 9,625 65,061 42,963
Interest income (expense) (6,425) (12,542) (39,047) (12,253)
Other income (expense) 247 (1,345) 71 (47)
Income before income
taxes, minority
interests, earnings
from equity
investments and
extraordinary item 7,590 (4,262) 26,085 30,663
Provision for
income taxes 3,040 (1,342) 7,837 15,561
Income before minority
interests earnings
from equity
investments and
extraordinary item 4,550 (2,920) 18,248 15,102
Minority interests (266) (12) (1,396) (22)
Earnings from
equity
investments 144 104 1,025 2,044
Net Income before
extraordinary item $4,428 $2,828 $17,877 $17,124
Extraordinary loss
on debt paydown,
net of tax benefit
of $15,670 -- -- (29,101) --
Net Income (loss) $4,428 ($2,828) ($11,224) $17,124
Earnings per common
share before the
extraordinary item
Basic $0.12 ($0.14) $0.64 $0.86
Diluted $0.11 ($0.14) $0.56 $0.86
Earnings per common
share after the
extraordinary item
Basic $0.12 ($0.14) ($0.40) $0.86
Diluted $0.11 ($0.14) ($0.35) $0.86
Weighted average
number of
common shares
outstanding
Basic 35,920,369 19,820,369 27,737,677 19,820,369
Diluted 40,194,451 19,820,369 31,734,354 19,820,369
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)
(dollars in thousands)
December 30, December 25,
2000 1999
Assets
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents $ 33,129 $ 15,010
Trade receivables 45,949 36,293
Inventories 33,890 30,534
Other current assets 6,769 7,158
Total current assets 119,737 88,995
Property, plant and equipment, net 117,001 85,413
Goodwill and other intangibles 41,893 36,958
Deferred tax asset 105,027 97,600
Other assets 26,950 50,130
Total assets $ 410,608 $ 359,096
Liabilities and Shareholder's Equity
Current liabilities
Current portion of long-term debt $ 231 $ 3,290
Accounts payable 10,767 9,291
Accrued compensation 16,997 10,792
Other current liabilities 36,325 38,048
Total current liabilities 64,320 61,421
Long-term debt 201,957 381,706
Other long-term liabilities 14,074 12,609
Total liabilities 280,351 455,736
Minority interests 13,330 304
Redeemable common stock -- 13,198
Total shareholder's equity 116,927 (110,142)
Total liabilities and shareholder's equity $ 410,608 $ 359,096
Contact:
Charles River Laboratories
Dennis R. Shaughnessy
Marcia Gookin
Investor Relations
978-658-6000 ext. 1329
ir@criver.com