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Year-end report for 2014

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Fourth quarter October - December 2014                                                        

  • Group net sales in the fourth quarter 2014 amounted to 137.8 MSEK (121.6), an increase by 13.3 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. At comparable exchange rates sales increased by 3.2 percent.
  • Operating profit amounted to 13.7 MSEK (13.4). Compared to the corresponding quarter last year operating profit was charged with 3.9 MSEK higher costs for R&D and 3.7 MSEK higher sales costs relating to variable remunerations and strategic initiatives in the USA.
  • The result after tax amounted to 16.7 MSEK (18.5).
  • Earnings per share amounted to 0.26 SEK (0.28).
  • The cash flow from operating activities amounted to 29.0 MSEK (21.1).
  • Net cash at December 31 amounted to 95.0 MSEK compared to 72.9 MSEK at September 30.

Full year January - December 2014                                                

  • Group net sales in 2014 amounted to 490.4 MSEK (444.6), a 10.3 percent increase compared to last year. At comparable exchange rates sales increased by 5.5 percent.
  • Operating profit increased by 26 percent to 49.3 MSEK (39.2).
  • The result after tax amounted to 51.1 MSEK (41.4), an increase by 23 percent.
  • Earnings per share amounted to 0.79 SEK (0.61).
  • The cash flow from remaining operating activities amounted to 80.9 MSEK (56.8).
  • Net cash at December 31 amounted to 95.0 MSEK, compared to 85.0 MSEK at December 31, 2013.
  • Dividends to shareholders were paid in May 2014 to the amount of 38.8 MSEK (34.9).
  • Dividends for 2014 are proposed to amount to 0.75 SEK (0.60) per share. According to the dividend policy established by the board Biotage should distribute at least 50 per cent of the net profit.
  • Biotage had no holding of own shares at the end of the reported period. No shares were acquired under the repurchasing program decided at the 2014 Annual General Meeting. The previous holding of 5,146,883 own shares, acquired under the previous repurchasing program, were canceled in May 2014 in accordance with the resolution of the AGM.

Comments by CEO Torben Jörgensen

Biotage ended the year with a sales increase of 13.3 percent in the quarter compared to the corresponding period last year. In the full year we achieved 10.3 percent growth. In contrast to last year we were helped by the currency development in 2014. At comparable exchange rates we grew by 3.2 percent in the quarter and by 5.5 percent in the full year. I am satisfied that we are growing at the same time as we are improving our profit margin. We meet our financial goal of an average operating margin (EBIT) of 10 percent in the fourth quarter as well as in the full year. The good result, a positive cash flow from the operations amounting to over 80 MSEK and a healthy liquidity enables us to give dividends of 0.75 SEK per share, which the board proposes to the Annual General Meeting.

The USA continued to provide the largest growth both in the quarter and the full year. Our business in China is developing in the right direction and we show growth in the quarter as well as for the full year. Europe has had a tough year and did not achieve the growth we expected. The operations in Japan are affected by Japan’s general economic difficulties. Thanks to a very strong first quarter the result for 2014 in Japan is only slightly lower than last year. Biotage’s distributor sales decreased somewhat. We have, however, taken relatively extensive measures in 2014 in order to address the weakening indirect sales. We have already seen that an increased focus within EMEA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) has resulted in increased sales. In APAC (Asia Pacific) more remains to be done before we can evaluate the effects.

We have good momentum in analytical chemistry with our Sample Prep products, especially in the important American market. In organic chemistry our single biggest product area, purification, continues to show the largest growth. Together Sample Prep and purification represent more than 70 percent of Biotage’s sales and show, excluding currency effects, an 8 percent growth in the year. We can also see that we during the year have moved our position forward with our Industrial Resins products. The product area peptide synthesis, on the other hand, has not lived up to our expectations and we are planning dedicated efforts within the sales organization in order to increase the sales.

During the quarter we carried out a big and important product launch of the new technology platform Extrahera™. Extrahera is an automated system for sample preparation and analysis based on Supported Liquid Extraction (SLE) and Solid Phase Extraction (SPE) methods in plate as well as column format. The launch has been well received in the market and we have great belief in this product in its own right, but also in that it will contribute to increased consumable sales.

The gross margin amounts to 54.4 percent for the quarter as well as the twelve month period. We see a largely unchanged relation between the sales of systems and aftermarket products (consumables and service); 44 (43) and 56 (57) percent, respectively, in 2014.

All in all 2014 was a year with many causes for rejoicing and some challenges, not least the varying conditions we have seen in different markets where we operate. We start the new year with a good order book and a continuing favorable currency situation. I look forward to 2015 with confidence.

For further information, please contact:
Torben Jörgensen, president and CEO, phone: +46 70 749 05 84
Erika Söderberg Johnson, CFO, phone: +46 70 720 48 20

The information is of the kind that Biotage AB (publ) is required to make public according to the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was released for publication at 08.30 on February 12, 2015.

About Biotage
Biotage offers efficient separation technologies from analysis to industrial scale and high quality solutions for analytical chemistry from research to commercial analysis laboratories. Biotage’s products are used by government authorities, academic institutions, pharmaceutical and food companies, among others. The company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the US, UK, China and Japan. Biotage has approx. 290 employees and had sales of 490 MSEK in 2014. Biotage is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm stock exchange. Website: www.biotage.com

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Year-End Report Biotage

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