Charles River Laboratories Announces Third-Quarter 2023 Results

WILMINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) today reported its results for the third quarter of 2023. For the quarter, revenue was $1.03 billion, an increase of 3.8% from $989.2 million in the third quarter of 2022.

Acquisitions contributed 0.2% to consolidated third-quarter revenue growth. The impact of foreign currency translation benefited reported revenue growth by 1.4%. The divestiture of the Avian Vaccine business in December 2022 reduced reported revenue growth by 1.9%. Excluding the effect of these items, organic revenue growth of 4.1% was driven primarily by the Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA) and the Research Models and Services (RMS) business segments.

On a GAAP basis, third-quarter net income attributable to common shareholders was $87.4 million, a decrease of 9.4% from $96.5 million for the same period in 2022. Third-quarter diluted earnings per share on a GAAP basis were $1.69, a decrease of 10.1% from $1.88 for the third quarter of 2022. The lower GAAP net income and earnings per share were driven primarily by site consolidation and associated costs, as well as non-operating items, including a loss on certain venture capital and other strategic investments, increased interest expense, and a higher tax rate. GAAP earnings per share included a loss from the Company’s certain venture capital and other strategic investments of $0.11 per share in the third quarter of 2023, compared to a gain of $0.04 per share for the same period in 2022. Certain venture capital and other strategic investment performance has been excluded from the Company’s non-GAAP results.

On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $140.5 million for the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 4.2% from $134.7 million for the same period in 2022. Third-quarter diluted earnings per share on a non-GAAP basis were $2.72, an increase of 3.4% from $2.63 per share for the third quarter of 2022. The non-GAAP net income and earnings per share increases were driven primarily by higher revenue and operating income, partially offset by increased interest expense and a higher tax rate.

James C. Foster, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We were pleased that our third-quarter financial results exceeded our expectations, and that some early signs of more favorable demand trends began to emerge, such as a sequential improvement in the Safety Assessment cancellation rate. However, we also experienced continued pressure from current client spending patterns, which began to have a discernable impact on the RMS segment and our Microbial Solutions business in the third quarter.”

“We believe our business model is resilient, and will benefit from our efforts to ensure that our cost structure remains aligned with the current pace of demand. We remain guided by the imperatives that differentiate us: Strengthening our unique portfolio, enhancing our scientific expertise, providing outstanding client service, and driving greater operating efficiencies. In this market environment, we will focus on market share and our unique role in the drug discovery and non-clinical development process to further distinguish ourselves. We believe this will increasingly enable clients to choose to partner with Charles River to derive additional value through our flexible and efficient outsourcing solutions,” Mr. Foster concluded.

Third-Quarter Segment Results

Research Models and Services (RMS)

Revenue for the RMS segment was $186.8 million in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 3.7% from $180.1 million in the third quarter of 2022. The impact of foreign currency translation benefited revenue by 0.5% in the quarter. Organic revenue growth of 3.2% was primarily driven by research model services, particularly the Insourcing Solutions (IS) business. Revenue growth for small research models in all geographic regions also contributed, principally driven by increased pricing. This was partially offset by lower revenue growth in the Cell Solutions business and the timing of large research model shipments within China.

In the third quarter of 2023, the RMS segment’s GAAP operating margin decreased to 15.2% from 19.9% in the third quarter of 2022, and on a non-GAAP basis, the operating margin decreased to 18.9% from 23.5%. The GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin decreases were driven primarily by the revenue mix and reduced operating leverage from lower revenue growth, as well as the timing of large model shipments within China.

Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA)

Revenue for the DSA segment was $664.0 million in the third quarter of 2023, an increase of 7.2% from $619.5 million in the third quarter of 2022. The impact of foreign currency translation benefited revenue by 1.5%, and the SAMDI Tech acquisition contributed 0.4% to reported DSA revenue growth in the quarter. Organic revenue growth of 5.3% was driven by the Safety Assessment business, primarily as a result of higher pricing and increased study volume.

In the third quarter of 2023, the DSA segment’s GAAP operating margin decreased to 22.1% from 22.9% in the third quarter of 2022. The decrease in the GAAP operating margin was primarily attributable to site consolidation, impairment, and associated costs related to the closure of a small Discovery Services site in California. On a non-GAAP basis, the operating margin increased to 27.2% from 26.2% in the third quarter of 2022. The non-GAAP operating margin improvement was primarily driven by operating leverage from higher revenue in the Safety Assessment business.

Manufacturing Solutions (Manufacturing)

Revenue for the Manufacturing segment was $175.7 million in the third quarter of 2023, a decrease of 7.3% from $189.6 million in the third quarter of 2022. The impact of the Avian Vaccine divestiture reduced revenue by 9.9%. The impact of foreign currency translation benefited revenue by 1.7% in the quarter. Organic revenue growth of 0.9% reflected higher revenue in the CDMO business, which was almost entirely offset by lower revenue in the Biologics Testing Solutions and Microbial Solutions businesses.

In the third quarter of 2023, the Manufacturing segment’s GAAP operating margin decreased to 15.0% from 16.6% in the third quarter of 2022, and on a non-GAAP basis, the operating margin decreased to 24.5% from 28.6% in the third quarter of 2022. The GAAP and non-GAAP operating margin declines were driven by each of the Manufacturing segment’s businesses.

Updates 2023 Guidance

The Company is updating its 2023 financial guidance, which was previously provided on August 9, 2023. As it moves into the fourth quarter, the Company is narrowing its revenue growth and non-GAAP earnings per share ranges. The updates principally reflect a shift in the gating of the financial results in the second half of the year, as demonstrated by the third-quarter financial performance that exceeded the Company’s prior expectations.

The Company’s 2023 guidance for revenue growth and earnings per share is as follows:

Webcast

Charles River has scheduled a live webcast on Wednesday, November 8^th, at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss matters relating to this press release. To participate, please go to ir.criver.com and select the webcast link. You can also find the associated slide presentation and reconciliations of GAAP financial measures to non-GAAP financial measures on the website.

Non-GAAP Reconciliations

The Company reports non-GAAP results in this press release, which exclude often-one-time charges and other items that are outside of normal operations. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is provided in the schedules at the end of this press release.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This press release contains non-GAAP financial measures, such as non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP operating margin, and non-GAAP net income. Non-GAAP financial measures exclude, but are not limited to, the amortization of intangible assets, and other charges and adjustments related to our acquisitions and divestitures, including the gain on our sale of our Avian Vaccine business; expenses associated with evaluating and integrating acquisitions and divestitures, including advisory fees and certain other transaction-related costs, as well as fair value adjustments associated with contingent consideration; charges, gains, and losses attributable to businesses or properties we plan to close, consolidate, or divest; severance and other costs associated with our efficiency initiatives; the write-off of deferred financing costs and fees related to debt financing; investment gains or losses associated with our venture capital and other strategic equity investments; certain legal costs in our Microbial Solutions business related to environmental litigation and in our Safety Assessment business related to U.S. government investigations into the NHP supply chain; and adjustments related to the recognition of deferred tax assets expected to be utilized as a result of changes to the our international financing structure and the revaluation of deferred tax liabilities as a result of foreign tax legislation. This press release also refers to our revenue on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis: “organic revenue growth,” which we define as reported revenue growth adjusted for foreign currency translation, acquisitions, divestitures, and the impact of the 53^rd week in 2022. We exclude these items from the non-GAAP financial measures because they are outside our normal operations. There are limitations in using non-GAAP financial measures, as they are not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and may be different than non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In particular, we believe that the inclusion of supplementary non-GAAP financial measures in this press release helps investors to gain a meaningful understanding of our core operating results and future prospects without the effect of these often-one-time charges, and is consistent with how management measures and forecasts the Company’s performance, especially when comparing such results to prior periods or forecasts. We believe that the financial impact of our acquisitions and divestitures (and in certain cases, the evaluation of such acquisitions and divestitures, whether or not ultimately consummated) is often large relative to our overall financial performance, which can adversely affect the comparability of our results on a period-to-period basis. In addition, certain activities and their underlying associated costs, such as business acquisitions, generally occur periodically but on an unpredictable basis. We calculate non-GAAP integration costs to include third-party integration costs incurred post-acquisition. Presenting revenue on an organic basis allows investors to measure our revenue growth exclusive of acquisitions, divestitures, the 53^rd week in 2022, and foreign currency exchange fluctuations more clearly. Non-GAAP results also allow investors to compare the Company’s operations against the financial results of other companies in the industry who similarly provide non-GAAP results. The non-GAAP financial measures included in this press release are not meant to be considered superior to or a substitute for results of operations presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company intends to continue to assess the potential value of reporting non-GAAP results consistent with applicable rules and regulations. Reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures used in this press release to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are set forth in this press release, and can also be found on the Company’s website at ir.criver.com.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “will,” “would,” “may,” “estimate,” “plan,” “outlook,” and “project,” and other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These statements also include statements regarding Charles River’s expectations regarding the availability of Cambodia-sourced NHPs; the impact of the investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice into the Cambodia NHP supply chain, including but not limited to Charles River’s ability to cooperate fully with the U.S. government; Charles River’s ability to effectively manage any Cambodia NHP supply impact; the projected future financial performance of Charles River and our specific businesses, including our expectations with respect to the impact of NHP supply constraints; earnings per share; client demand, particularly the future demand for drug discovery and development products and services, including our expectations for future revenue trends; our expectations with respect to pricing of our products and services; our expectations with respect to future tax rates and the impact of such tax rates on our business; our expectations with respect to the impact of acquisitions and divestitures completed in 2021, 2022, and 2023 on the Company, our service offerings, client perception, strategic relationships, revenue, revenue growth rates, revenue growth drivers, and earnings; the development and performance of our services and products, including our investments in our portfolio; market and industry conditions including the outsourcing of services and identification of spending trends by our clients and funding available to them; and Charles River’s future performance as delineated in our forward-looking guidance, and particularly our expectations with respect to revenue, the impact of foreign exchange, interest rates, enhanced efficiency initiatives. Forward-looking statements are based on Charles River’s current expectations and beliefs, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and that could cause actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by the forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: NHP supply constraints and the investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice, including the impact on our projected future financial performance, the timing of the resumption of Cambodia NHP imports, our ability to manage supply impact, and potential study delays in our Safety Assessment business attributable to NHP supply constraints; changes and uncertainties in the global economy and financial markets; the ability to successfully integrate businesses we acquire; the timing and magnitude of our share repurchases; negative trends in research and development spending, negative trends in the level of outsourced services, or other cost reduction actions by our clients; the ability to convert backlog to revenue; special interest groups; contaminations; industry trends; new displacement technologies; USDA and FDA regulations; changes in law; continued availability of products and supplies; loss of key personnel; interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; changes in tax regulation and laws; changes in generally accepted accounting principles; disruptions in the global economy caused by the ongoing conflict between the Russian federation and Ukraine; and any changes in business, political, or economic conditions due to the threat of future terrorist activity in the U.S. and other parts of the world, and related U.S. military action overseas. A further description of these risks, uncertainties, and other matters can be found in the Risk Factors detailed in Charles River’s Annual Report on Form 10-K as filed on February 22, 2023, as well as other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, actual results and events may differ materially from results and events currently expected by Charles River, and Charles River assumes no obligation and expressly disclaims any duty to update information contained in this press release except as required by law.

About Charles River

Charles River provides essential products and services to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are focused on providing clients with exactly what they need to improve and expedite the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of new therapies for the patients who need them. To learn more about our unique portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.

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