WAYNE, Pa., Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Escalon Medical Corp. today announced results for its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008.
For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, financial results were heavily affected by the non-recurring, non-cash, goodwill impairment expense of $9,575,000, recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, resulting from the requirement under SFAS 142 in connection with the Company's impairment test of intangible assets and goodwill valuations. The revaluation of goodwill, as required by GAAP, resulted in the Company's goodwill being revalued to zero, generating a non-cash $9,575,000 impairment charge.
Consolidated product revenue for fiscal 2008 increased approximately 7.5% to $29,988,000, compared with $27,893,000 in the prior fiscal year. The increase is primarily related to strong sales in the Company's Drew, Vascular, and EMI business units, which increased approximately 14.7%, 18.8%, and 18.7%, respectively, offset by sales decreases in the Sonomed and Trek business units of 4.6% and 5.5%, respectively.
Net revenues for fiscal 2008 totaled $30,210,000, compared with $38,838,000 reported a year ago. Fiscal 2007 net revenue reflected a previously announced settlement agreement that the Company entered into with IntraLase Corp. to resolve all outstanding disputes and litigation between the parties. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, IntraLase made a lump sum payment to the Company of $9,600,000, and the company transferred to IntraLase its ownership of patents and intellectual property formerly licensed to IntraLase by the Company.
The Company reported a fiscal 2008 net loss of $(15,060,000), or $(2.36) per diluted share, compared with net income of $5,915,000, or $0.92 per diluted share, in the prior year period. The net loss of 2008 includes a non-cash goodwill impairment of $9,575,000, or $(1.50) per share, as previously noted. In accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142, Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets, the Company tests goodwill for possible impairment on an annual basis for each of its operating segments. Based on this analysis, the Company concluded that $9,575,000 of the goodwill recorded at the Drew business unit was impaired. This analysis, based on prescribed accounting rules, does not take into account future growth opportunities, expansion efforts presence in the reagent segment of the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) market, the delay in the development of Drew's proposed new diabetes instrument or the value of intellectual properties. For a more complete discussion of this accounting rule and the results of the impairment test, please refer to the Company's Form 10-K filed on September 29, 2008 with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
For fiscal 2008, cost of goods sold totaled approximately $17,310,000, or 57.7% of product revenues, compared with $15,771,000, or 56.5% of product revenue, for fiscal year 2007. Operating expenses increased approximately 4.2% during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 as compared to the prior fiscal year. This was related to increased research and development expenses at the Drew, Sonomed and Vascular divisions and increased consulting expenses related to the implementation of an ERP system during the current period.
2008 Fourth Quarter Results
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, product revenue increased 2.0% to $7,566,000, compared with $7,415,000 reported in the same period last fiscal year. Product revenues were driven by increased sales at the Company's Drew, Vascular, and EMI business units, offset by decreases at its Sonomed unit. Net revenue for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 totaled $7,634,000, compared with $7,474,000 reported in the prior year period.
For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008, the Company reported a net loss of $(11,649,000), or $(1.82) per diluted share, which includes the goodwill impairment of $9,575,000, compared with net loss of $(1,173,000), or $(0.18) per diluted share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.
Recap of 2008
"While we are disappointed with our results from an income perspective, the Company realized solid revenue growth and achieved key operational objectives intended to diversify and expand our product portfolio and have a potential incremental long-term effect on our financial results. In addition, staffing and other costs of approximately $2,000,000 in our Drew business unit incurred during fiscal 2008 have been eliminated and will not recur in fiscal 2009," Richard J. DePiano, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented.
"Since July 2007, we successfully secured FDA market clearances for five new products and also obtained approval from the People's Republic of China's State Food and Drug Administration to market Sonomed's PacScan(R) and E/Z-Scan(R) products. We also enhanced our position within the IVD reagent market with the May 30, 2008 acquisition of JAS Diagnostics. As a result of our initiatives, Escalon realized product revenue growth of $2.1 million or 7.5% during the year."
"In the Drew business unit, product revenue increased $1,705,000, or 14.7%, year-over-year driven by sales of Drew's D3 instrument, which received FDA marketing clearance in December 2007, strong demand for the Primus instrument and continued growth of Drew's reagent sales from its United Kingdom facility. Drew anticipates introducing its new DS-360 Analyzer in the second half of fiscal 2009. Management believes that the major investment in Drew's new equipment is substantially completed and that future research and development will continue, but with a focus on enhancements of existing products. We believe that Drew will continue to experience both organic as well as seek acquisitive growth in its equipment and reagent business units," Mr. DePiano said.
"Regarding the impairment of goodwill, management is committed and does follow the prescribed regulatory rules which define a methodology of recording and maintaining the value of assets on the balance sheet of the Company," Mr. DePiano continued. "I believe the most valuable attributes acquired more than three years ago in the Drew acquisition, namely the Drew brand, the installed base and the distribution channel, have each been enhanced. The required investment in Drew over the past several years has transformed the company into a more competitive and viable company. However, the manner in which the investment over this time period is accounted for on the books and records of the Company, produced losses not additional value. The investment period through fiscal 2008 has culminated with several changes that while painful for the Company, its employees and shareholders to endure, will ultimately allow Drew to operate profitably and thus return the Company to operating profitability."
Mr. DePiano added, "Within Sonomed, product revenue decreased $456,000, or 4.6%, to $9,367,000 as a result of the continued migration of revenue to international markets. The international market is served primarily by distributors who receive significant discounts as compared to traditional direct sales in United States. Research and development expenses increased in fiscal 2008 related to the development of Sonomed's next generation of ultrasound instruments, which are expected to be introduced throughout fiscal 2009, and to continued improvements in the existing product offering."
"Turning to our Vascular unit, we realized year-over-year product revenue growth of $652,000, or 18.8%, to $4,119,000, as the new VascuView(TM) Visual Ultrasound System was a source of growth in fiscal 2008," Mr. DePiano continued, "EMI's product revenue continued to grow, increasing $278,000 or 18.7% to $1,762,000 for the year. We realized increased sales of EMI's digital imaging systems from the January 2006 MRP acquisition and are equally excited about the prospects that lie ahead as EMI's product offering continues to expand and has seen significant market acceptance during fiscal 2008. Product revenue in the Medical/Trek business unit decreased $82,000, or 5.5%, to $1,410,000 during the year ended June 30, 2008 as compared to the last fiscal year. Slowing growth within this unit during 2008 is primarily attributed to Trek's mature product line of Ispan Intraocular gases and fiber optic sources."
Non-GAAP Measures
To supplement the Company's consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with GAAP, the Company is providing certain non-GAAP measures of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net loss and non-GAAP loss per fully diluted share.
Specifically, the Company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by isolating certain expenses, gains and losses that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, the Company believes non-GAAP measures that exclude stock-based compensation expense enhance the comparability of results against prior periods.
The Company reference to these non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to results prepared under current accounting standards, but are not a substitute for, nor superior to, GAAP results. These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors' overall understanding of the Company current financial performance and provide further information for comparative purposes due to depreciation and amortization and the adoption of accounting standard FAS 123R.
The non-GAAP measures and the reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures are as follows:
Founded in 1987, the Company (www.escalonmed.com) develops markets and distributes ophthalmic diagnostic, surgical and pharmaceutical products as well as vascular access devices. Drew Scientific, which operates as a separate business unit, provides instrumentation and consumables for the diagnosis and monitoring of medical disorders in the areas of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and hematology, as well as veterinary hematology and blood chemistry. The Company seeks to utilize strategic partnerships to help finance its development programs and is also seeking acquisitions to further diversify its product line to achieve critical mass in sales and take better advantage of the Company 's distribution capabilities, although such partnerships or acquisitions may not occur. The Company has headquarters in Wayne, Pennsylvania and operations in Long Island, New York, New Berlin, Wisconsin, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Dallas, Texas, Waterbury, Connecticut, Miami, Florida and Barrow-in-Furness, U.K.
Note: This press release contains statements that are considered forward-looking under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements about the Company's future prospects. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. The uncertainties and risks include whether the Company is able to:
Other factors include uncertainties and risks related to:
Further information about these and other relevant risks and uncertainties may be found in the Company's report on Form 10- K for year ended June 30, 2008, and its other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, all of which are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as other sources.
SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA:
CONTACT: Richard J. DePiano, Chairman and CEO of Escalon Medical Corp.,
+1-610-688-6830; or Joseph Calabrese of Financial Relations Board for
Escalon Medical Corp., +1-212-827-3772
Web site: http://www.escalonmed.com/
Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/126923.html
