UNION CITY, Calif., Jan. 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ABAXIS, Inc. , a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2007.
Quarterly Results: For the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2007, Abaxis reported revenues of $25.7 million, as compared with revenues of $22.0 million for the comparable period last year, an increase of 17 percent. Instrument, reagent disc and hematology reagent revenues increased by an aggregate of $3.1 million, or 15 percent over the same period last year. The company reported net income of $3.2 million, compared to $2.8 million for the same period last year. The company’s effective tax rate in the quarter ended December 31, 2007 was 35 percent, compared to 31 percent for the same period last year. The company reported diluted net income per share of $0.14 (calculated based on 22,359,000 shares) in the third quarter of fiscal 2008, compared to $0.13 per share (calculated based on 21,939,000 shares) for the same period last year.
Nine-Month Results: For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2007, Abaxis reported revenues of $73.8 million, as compared with revenues of $63.4 million for the comparable period last year, an increase of 16 percent. Instrument, reagent disc and hematology reagent revenues increased by an aggregate of $9.3 million, or 16 percent over the same period last year. The company reported net income of $9.2 million, compared to $7.3 million for the same period last year. The company’s effective tax rate in both nine-month periods was 37 percent. The company reported diluted net income per share of $0.41 (calculated based on 22,208,000 shares), compared to $0.33 per share (calculated based on 21,871,000 shares) for the same period last year.
Other Reported Information: Reagent disc and hematology reagent revenues for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $15.3 million, up 25 percent over the $12.2 million reported in the same period last year. During the quarter, the company sold a total of 1,212,000 medical and veterinary reagent discs, an increase of 21 percent compared to a total of 1,005,000 medical and veterinary reagent discs sold during the same period last year. Total sales in the medical market for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $6.0 million, an increase of 29 percent over last year’s comparable quarter. Medical sales in North America, excluding sales to the U.S. government, during the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $4.2 million, an increase of 25 percent over last year’s comparable quarter. Total sales in the veterinary market for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $18.1 million, up 11 percent over last year’s comparable quarter. Additionally, veterinary reagent disc sales for the third quarter of fiscal 2008 were $11.4 million, an increase of 30 percent compared to the same period last year. The company ended the quarter with $55.8 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
Clint Severson, chairman and chief executive officer of Abaxis, commented, “We are pleased with the results of our third quarter and the nine-month period. The results of the quarter represent the 21st consecutive quarter of profitability. We are achieving real traction in the medical market and we are dedicated to providing the highest level of customer service to our end-user clients. We are particularly pleased with the continued success of our distribution partners in placing 191 Piccolo instruments throughout the medical industry during the quarter compared to 94 in the comparable quarter last year.”
“Reagent disc unit sales growth of 21% for the quarter of our combined veterinary and medical reagent discs versus the comparable quarter last year is also gratifying. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of disc sales exceeding one million units. We are also gratified with the granting of waived status under CLIA regulations for many of our medical reagent discs. The nine CLIA-waived panels now on the Abaxis menu represents more than 90% of all general chemistries ordered in the United States. Our products provide a wider segment of the medical profession to conduct comprehensive health screenings at the point of care. We believe that the timeliness of achieving lab-accurate results at the point-of-care will result in more efficient care and better patient outcomes.”
Mr. Severson concluded, “Going forward, we believe that we are well positioned for continued growth. The financial condition of the company is very strong with a growing cash position of $55.8 million, no long-term debt and leading-edge technology. We believe that both the veterinary and medical segments have considerable growth opportunities in the future and we are committed to becoming the leading provider of point-of-care blood analysis systems. We know that there will be future challenges to overcome, but we believe we have the people, products and technology to meet our future goals.”
Conference Call
Abaxis has scheduled a conference call to discuss its results at 4:15 p.m. ET on January 31, 2008. Participants can dial (877) 356-5706 or (706) 643-0580 to access the conference call, or can listen via a live Internet web cast, which is available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at http://www.abaxis.com. A replay of the call is available by visiting http://www.abaxis.com for the next 30 days or by calling (800) 642-1687 or (706) 645-9291, access code 32155678, through February 2, 2008. This press release is also available prior to and after the call via Abaxis’ website or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
About Abaxis
Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements. The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs that contain all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients. The system can be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples. The system provides test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement its financial statements presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Abaxis uses operating income per share. This non-GAAP financial presentation is not a measurement of performance under GAAP in the United States of America. Management uses this measure in comparing Abaxis’ operating results with historical performance and believes it provides meaningful and comparable information to management and investors to assist in their review of Abaxis’ performance relative to prior periods and its competitors.
This press release includes, and our conference call will include, statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”). Abaxis claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the terms “may,” “believes,” “projects,” “expects,” “anticipates,” or words of similar import, and do not reflect historical facts. Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release or in our conference call may be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the market acceptance of the company’s products and the continuing development of its products, required United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and other government approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale free of defects, risks related to the introduction of new instruments manufactured by third parties, risks associated with entering the human diagnostic market on a larger scale, risks related to the protection of the company’s intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual property asserted by third parties, risks involved in carrying of inventory and other risks detailed from time to time in Abaxis’ periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements were made. Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Clint Severson, Chief Executive Officer of Abaxis, Inc.,
+1-510-675-6500; or Joe Dorame, Robert Blum, or Joe Diaz, all of Lytham
Partners, LLC, +1-602-889-9700, for Abaxis, Inc.
Web site: http://www.abaxis.com/
