SEATTLE, September 28, 2009 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pacific Biometrics, Inc. , a leading provider of specialized central laboratory and contract research services, today reported its operating results for FY2009. The Company will host an investor conference call today at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time (8:00 a.m. Pacific Time) to discuss its operating results and other topics of interest (details provided below).
For the twelve months ended June 30, 2009 (FY2009), revenue increased 32% to a record $10,881,107, compared with revenues of $8,265,237 in FY2008. Operating income improved to $613,430, compared with an operating loss of $566,026 in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. The Company reported FY2009 net income of $1,235,947, or $0.07 per basic and $0.06 per diluted share, compared with a FY2008 net loss of $571,429, or $0.03 per share.
“While the nature of our business is subject to numerous uncertainties surrounding the ongoing consolidation within the pharmaceutical industry, the availability of capital for biotech companies, and a trend towards smaller, more adaptive clinical trials, I am confident that PBI is on the right track with its growing focus upon traditional and novel biomarkers,” stated Ron Helm, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Biometrics. “We are pleased to report record sales and an impressive earnings turnaround for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2009, including a 32% revenue increase that reflects our investments in business development initiatives over the last two fiscal years. Throughout Fiscal 2009, we benefited from strong levels of testing revenue in the diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and clinical biomarker therapeutic areas.
“Although the primary component of our business development efforts has been directed towards pharmaceutical and biotech companies, during Fiscal 2009 we saw an increase in revenues from our work with other large clinical trial laboratories that refer specialty laboratory testing to us. The majority of our referral business has been at the direction of clients that are familiar with the experience, expertise and quality of services that we provide. This speaks to the strong reputation for specialty testing services that we have developed within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in recent years. We also witnessed growth in our biomarker services revenues during the second half of the fiscal year, generating 8% of full-year revenues, compared with 5% in Fiscal 2008. We expect our biomarker services business to represent a growing portion of our revenues in the 2010 fiscal year.
“The Company’s profitability improved by more than $1.8 million during Fiscal 2009, when compared with the previous fiscal year,” continued Helm. “Gross profit margins expanded from 41.4% of revenues in Fiscal 2008 to 45.6% in the most recent fiscal year, despite higher reagent costs, an increase in laboratory staff to perform many new and more complex assays, and the addition of a separate facility for a new class of assays in our biomarker services area. Meanwhile, our selling, general and administrative expense ratio declined to 40.0% of revenues in Fiscal 2009, from 48.2% in Fiscal 2008, as we leveraged our semi-fixed operating infrastructure expenses across a significantly higher revenue base.
“We generated over $1.1 million in cash from operating activities during the most recent fiscal year, compared with a cash ‘burn’ of over $1.0 million in Fiscal 2008. This allowed us to repay all of the outstanding Laurus convertible notes and to pay off the amounts outstanding on our equipment credit line with Franklin Funding. Even after payments of $921,000 on notes payable and capital lease obligations, we ended the fiscal year with cash and cash equivalents of almost $1.4 million on our balance sheet. We reduced our total liabilities by 48% during the fiscal year, to approximately $2.0 million, and increased our stockholders’ equity by 153% to $2.8 million.
“We are seeing a change in our marketplace with the widespread use of so-called ‘adaptive clinical trials’ together with novel biomarkers. These contracts are often shorter in duration and tend to move in and out of backlog quickly. Similarly, biomarker assay development work is also of a short duration, often remaining in backlog for less than 90 days, but this has the benefit that the sales cycle is shorter and revenues are realized earlier after contracts are signed. This type of work favors smaller labs, like PBI, that are nimble and flexible, and plays into our biomarker development strength. One consequence of these shifts is a change in the nature and size of our backlog, which now stands at $13.1 million, compared to $15.1 million a year ago. On the other hand, our total active contracts stand at $25.1 million, compared with $21.0 million one year ago, reflecting the increased number of contracts and volume of work flowing through the lab.
“Subsequent to the end of our fiscal year, we completed a $4 million debt financing on favorable terms that allowed the Company to repurchase 13% of its outstanding shares, at a price of $0.70 per share, and provided the Company with additional net capital of approximately $2.3 million to support our growth initiatives.
“In response to the repositioning of PBI in the marketplace, our Board of Directors has approved a change in the Company’s name to ‘Pacific Biomarkers, Inc.,’ subject to approval by our stockholders at the next Annual Meeting. We believe the name change will improve the visibility of PBI’s evolving business model and capabilities to our customers and within the investment community,” concluded Helm.
Investor Conference Call
Pacific Biometrics, Inc. has scheduled an investor conference call to discuss its operating FY2009 results, along with other relevant subjects. The call is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. EDT (8:00 a.m. PDT) today, Monday, September 28, 2009.
Stockholders and other interested parties may listen to the conference call by dialing 800-860-2442 (international/local participants dial 412-858-4600) and requesting the “Pacific Biometrics, Inc. Conference Call” a few minutes before 11:00 a.m. EDT on September 28, 2009. A replay of the conference call will be available one hour after the call through October 5, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. EDT by dialing 877-344-7529 (international/local participants dial 412-317-0088) and entering the Conference ID 434163.
About Pacific Biometrics, Inc. (PBI)
Established in 1989, PBI provides specialized central laboratory and contract research services to support pharmaceutical and diagnostic manufacturers conducting human clinical trial research, including expert services in the areas of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, and nutrition. The PBI laboratory is accredited by the College of American Pathologists, New York State, and the Lipid Standardization Program. PBI’s clients include many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical, biotech, and diagnostic companies.
PBI also provides specialized services in the emerging field of biomarker assay development and testing. Services include validating and performing ligand-binding assays for novel clinical biomarkers, immunogenicity testing, and multiplex testing.
PBI is headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and its common stock trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol “PBME”. For more information about PBI, visit the company’s web site at www.pacbio.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release includes forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, the following: growth in revenues and backlog; results of business development activities; financial results; future growth; and the viability and acceptance of its established and new services, including the Company’s biomarker services. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following: the Company’s ability to enter into contracts for its laboratory testing or biomarker services; client changes or early terminations of studies; variability in backlog; the success of marketing and business development efforts, and competitive factors; changes effecting the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries; the Company’s ability to manage growth; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2009).
SOURCE Pacific Biometrics, Inc.
CONTACT: Ron Helm, CEO of Pacific Biometrics, Inc., +1-206-298-0068; or
Investor Relations Counsel of RJ Falkner & Company, Inc., 1-800-377-9893,
info@rjfalkner.com, for Pacific Biometrics, Inc.
Web site: http://www.pacbio.com/
