Interim report January – September 2007
• Net sales amounted to 361.9 (382.9) MSEK in the period January – September 2007 and to 111.9 (133.9) MSEK in the third quarter. At comparable exchange rates and excluding the Chem Dev product area, which is being closed down, sales increased by 1% in the nine month period and decreased by 12% in the third quarter.
• The operating result for the first nine months 2007 amounted to 27.6 (-2.9) MSEK. The operating result for the third quarter amounted to 9.3 (11.4) MSEK.
• In the first nine months 2007 net profit amounted to 56.5 (-8.2) MSEK and earnings per share to 0.64 (-0.09) SEK. In the third quarter profit after tax amounted to 11.2 (8.6) MSEK and earnings per share to 0.13 (0.10) SEK.
• The cash flow from operating activities amounted to 21.2 (11.9) MSEK in the first nine months and to 22.9 (17.4) MSEK in the third quarter.
Comment from Torben Jörgensen, President and CEO
The third quarter 2007 showed continued good profitability, with a good result and improved gross margin. However total sales were lower than expected. Biosystems continues to develop positively and in the third quarter the first sales in the market segment “Molecular Imaging” took place. The decreased sales of the Discovery Chemistry business area in the third quarter are mainly attributable to a weak demand for purification products among the major pharma companies but also to new products being introduced by competitors.
The Group has enjoyed a very good financial development during the last 18 months. The work aimed at consolidating and optimizing the business with focus on profitability has yielded good results. From being a company with large losses, we have in the latest 12 month period had sales of approximately 500 MSEK and an operating profit of 37.5 MSEK.
Of course I am disappointed that we cannot see sales growth in the third quarter, but at the same time I feel confident going into the fourth quarter. With this behind us I now see that we are ready to enter into a new phase. Biotage is operating in a business environment where structural deals are an essential element in the efforts to achieve higher turnover with increased profitability, which also has led to that Biotage has been approached by other strategic parties. The board has therefore, with an unprejudiced view, decided to evaluate different strategic alternatives which can lead to acquisitions of new companies, sell out of parts of the company or the entire company and/or possibility of changes in the ownership structure of the company. The strategic evaluation will be performed with the natural aim to maximize shareholder value. The strategic evaluation will be performed with a flexible time schedule and the broadest possible scope. The board has decided to appoint Greenhill & Co as an advisor.
In the meantime we will continue our daily tasks, building and refining Biotage’s profitable business.