Varian Medical Systems Reports Results for Third Quarter of Fiscal Year 2011

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) today is reporting net earnings from continuing operations of $0.83 per diluted share in the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, up 12 percent from $0.74 in the year-ago quarter.  Revenues for the quarter were $649 million, up 12 percent from the prior-year period and up 9 percent on a constant currency basis.  Order backlog at the end of the third quarter rose 10 percent from the prior-year quarter to $2.3 billion.

"Continued healthy demand for newer products contributed to solid growth in net orders and revenues during the third quarter in both our Oncology Systems and X-Ray Products business segments," said Tim Guertin, president and CEO of Varian Medical Systems.  "A variety of factors, including product retrofits in our Oncology business as well as challenging conditions in our Other segment, contributed to lower than normal gross margin for the quarter. Year-to-date, gross margins are up by half a percent."

At the end of the quarter, the company had $568 million in cash and cash equivalents and $18 million of debt.  During the third quarter, the company retired an additional 631,000 shares to complete the previously announced accelerated share repurchase program.  Fully diluted shares outstanding for the quarter were 119.1 million, down 5.4 million from the year-ago quarter.  Days sales outstanding for the quarter was 81, an increase of 1 day from the year-ago period.  

Oncology Systems

Third quarter revenues from Oncology Systems' products and services for radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy totaled $513 million, up 12 percent from the same period last fiscal year.  Third quarter net orders totaled $553 million, up 9 percent versus the year-ago period.  Net orders rose 18 percent in international markets and were even with the year-ago period in North America.

"Continued strong demand for our TrueBeam platform and service contracts led to the order and revenue growth during the quarter," Guertin said. "Our TrueBeam platform for radiotherapy and radiosurgery represented more than 40 percent of all machines ordered during the quarter.  This platform enabled us to gain market share in North America while driving growth in international markets with major wins in Scotland, Norway, and Saudi Arabia."

X-Ray Products

Third quarter revenues from x-ray tubes and flat panel image detectors for filmless imaging were $121 million, up 18 percent from the year-ago quarter.  Compared to the same period in fiscal year 2010, X-Ray Products' third quarter net orders rose 17 percent to $121 million.    

"Demand for our full range of products remained strong in the third quarter," said Guertin.  "X-ray tubes for CT scanners, mammography, and service replacement tubes grew at a double-digit pace."  The overall growth of X-Ray Products segment continued to be led by its radiographic imaging panels that were introduced last year.

Other

The company's Other category, which is comprised of the Security and Inspection Products (SIP) business, the Varian Particle Therapy business, and the Ginzton Technology Center, recorded third quarter revenues of $16 million, down 18 percent from the year-ago period.  Net orders in the company's Other category were $17 million, down 12 percent from the year-ago quarter.

Outlook

"We continue to estimate that revenues for fiscal year 2011 could grow 10 to 11 percent over the fiscal 2010 total," said Guertin. "We now believe that net earnings per diluted share from continuing operations for the year could grow by about 16 percent to be in the range of $3.42 to $3.45."  

Investor Conference Call

Varian Medical Systems is scheduled to conduct its third quarter fiscal year 2011 conference call at 2 p.m. PT today.  To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on the company's web site at www.varian.com/investor where it will be archived for a year.  To access the call via telephone, dial 1-866-383-8108 from inside the U.S. or 1-617-597-5343 from outside the U.S. and enter confirmation code 51675560.  The replay can be accessed by dialing 1 888 286-8010 from inside the U.S. or 1-617-801-6888 from outside the U.S. and entering confirmation code 43268063.  The telephone replay will be available through 5 p.m. PT, Friday, July 29, 2011.

For automatic "e-mail alerts" regarding Varian news, events, and new investor materials on the website, investors can subscribe on the company website: http://varian.investorroom.com/index.php?s=58. For additional information, contact investor relations at 1 650 424-5834.

Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 5,700 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and approximately 70 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Except for historical information, this news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements concerning industry outlook, including growth drivers; the company's future orders, revenues, backlog, or earnings growth; future financial results; market acceptance of or transition to new products or technology such as TrueBeam and radiographic flat panel detectors, image-guided radiation therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, filmless X-rays, proton therapy, and security and inspection, and any statements using the terms "could," "believe," "outlook," or similar statements are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. Such risks and uncertainties include the effect of economic conditions, including the strength of any recovery from the global recession; the impact of recently enacted federal health care legislation and any further health care reforms (including changes to Medicare and Medicaid), and/or changes in third-party reimbursement levels; currency exchange rates and tax rates; demand for the company's products; the company's ability to develop, commercialize, and deploy new products such as the TrueBeam platform; the company's ability to meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other regulatory requirements for product clearances or to comply with FDA and other regulatory regulations or procedures; changes in the regulatory environment, including with respect to FDA requirements; challenges in reducing or eliminating ongoing commitments retained from our discontinued research instruments business; the effect of adverse publicity; the company's reliance on sole or limited-source suppliers; the impact of reduced or limited demand by purchasers of certain X-ray products, including those located in Japan; the company's ability to maintain or increase margins; the impact of competitive products and pricing; the potential loss of key distributors or key personnel; challenges to public tender awards and the loss of such awards or other orders; and the other risks listed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which by this reference are incorporated herein. The company assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release because of new information, future events, or otherwise.

A summary of earnings and other financial information follows.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
Elisha Finney (650) 424-6803
[email protected]

Spencer Sias (650) 424-5782
[email protected]

SOURCE Varian Medical Systems