MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Techne Corporation’s consolidated net earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 decreased 6.9% to $25.4 million or $.68 per diluted share compared with $27.3 million or $.70 per diluted share for the quarter ended June 30, 2008. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, Techne’s consolidated net earnings increased 1.6% to $105.2 million or $2.78 per diluted share compared with $103.6 million or $2.64 per diluted share for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008. Net earnings as a percentage of net sales were 39.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 as compared to 40.2% in fiscal 2008.
Consolidated net sales for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 were $64.9 million and $264.0 million, respectively. This was a 4.2% decrease and a 2.5% increase from the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, respectively. Consolidated net sales were negatively affected by the strength of the U.S. dollar as compared to foreign currencies. Excluding the effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates, consolidated net sales decreased 0.9% for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 and increased 5.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, from the comparable prior year periods.
R&D Europe’s net sales for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 were $18.0 million and $72.5 million, decreases of 14.3% and 4.2%, respectively, from the same prior-year periods. R&D Europe’s net sales decreased 3.6% for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 and increased 7.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 when measured at currency rates in effect in the comparable prior periods. R&D Europe’s net sales for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 were affected by the timing of the Easter holiday in Europe, which occurred in the third quarter of fiscal 2008.
Consolidated gross margins were 77.4% and 79.0% for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, respectively, compared to 79.5% for both the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2008, respectively. The decreases in gross margins in the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009 were primarily caused by lower gross margins in Europe resulting from comparatively unfavorable exchange rates. Consolidated gross margins for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 also decreased from the quarter ended March 31, 2009 as a result of a change in sales mix from higher margin Biotechnology Division sales to lower margin Hematology Division and R&D Europe sales.
Interest income decreased $1.7 million and $4.6 million for the quarter and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, respectively, from the comparable prior-year periods, primarily as a result of lower rates of return on cash and available-for-sale investments and, to a lesser extent, to lower cash and available-for-sale investment balances.
In November 2007, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized the repurchase and retirement of up to $150 million of the Company’s common stock. In April 2009, an additional $60 million was authorized for repurchase and retirement of common stock. The Company repurchased approximately 33,000 shares of its common stock during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 for approximately $1.8 million. Approximately $67.5 million remains available for the repurchase of shares under these authorizations.
This earnings release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the actual results of operations. The following important factors, among others, have affected and, in the future, could affect the Company’s actual results: the introduction and acceptance of new biotechnology and hematology products, the levels and particular directions of research by the Company’s customers, the impact of the growing number of producers of biotechnology research products and related price competition, general economic conditions, the retention of hematology OEM and proficiency survey business, the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations, and the costs and results of research and product development efforts of the Company and of companies in which the Company has invested or with which it has formed strategic relationships.
Techne Corporation has two operating subsidiaries: Research and Diagnostic Systems, Inc. (R&D Systems) of Minneapolis, Minnesota and R&D Systems Europe, Ltd. (R&D Europe) of Abingdon, England. R&D Systems is a specialty manufacturer of biological products. R&D Systems has two subsidiaries, BiosPacific, Inc. (BiosPacific), located in Emeryville, California and R&D Systems China Co. Ltd., (R&D China), located in Shanghai, China. BiosPacific is a worldwide supplier of biologics to manufacturers of in vitro diagnostic systems and immunodiagnostic kits. R&D China and R&D Europe distribute biotechnology products.
Techne Corporation
