Year-end report January - December 2017-Biotage

UPPSALA, Sweden, Feb. 8, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Fourth quarter October – December 2017

• Net sales amounted to 188.9 MSEK (179.1), which is an increase by 5.4 percent compared to the corresponding quarter last year. At comparable exchange rates[1] net sales increased by 7.1 percent.
• Operating profit increased by 34 percent to 32.3 MSEK (24.1).
• Result after tax increased by 98 percent to 34.6 MSEK (17.5).
• Earnings per share amounted to 0.54 SEK (0.27) before and after dilution.
• The cash flow from operating activities increased to 66.2 MSEK (42.4).
• Net cash[1] at December 31 amounted to 174.3 MSEK (128.6).
• At the end of the reported period Biotage had no holding of own shares. No shares were acquired under the repurchasing program resolved at the 2017 Annual General Meeting.
• On December 6 Biotage signed an agreement to acquire all shares in the privately held company Horizon Technology Inc. in New Hampshire, USA.

Full year January - December 2017

• Net sales amounted to 748.1 MSEK (667.9), which is an increase by 12.0 percent compared to the corresponding period last year. At comparable exchange rates net sales increased by 12.7 percent.
• Operating profit increased by 35 percent to 133.6 MSEK (99.1).
• Result after tax increased to 138.7 MSEK (92.8).
• Earnings per share amounted to 2.14 SEK (1.43) before and after dilution.
• The cash flow from operating activities amounted to 168.9 MSEK (139.1).
• Dividends to the shareholders were paid to the amount of 80.9 MSEK (80.9) in the month of May.
• The board intends to propose to the AGM that dividends to the shareholders are paid to the amount of 1.40 SEK (1.25) per share for 2017. According to the dividend policy Biotage should distribute at least 50 percent of the net profit.

Major events after the end of the financial year

• On January 16 Biotage closed the acquisition of Horizon. The purchase price was approx. 17.8 MUSD, corresponding approx. 143 MSEK[2], the enterprise value amounting to approx. 16.2 MUSD and the cash to approx. 1.6 MUSD.  

[1] See definition on pp 16-17
[2] Based on an exchange rate SEK/USD of 8.02

Comments by CEO Torben Jörgensen

Summing up the year that passed I can note that 2017 exceeded our expectations and is Biotage's best year ever. We report record sales of 748 MSEK for the full-year and we increase the cash flow for the operating activities by no less than 30 MSEK to 169 MSEK.

All geographic regions show growth exceeding our financial growth target of 8 percent during the year and in total Biotage shows a sales growth of 12 percent.

The operating result (EBIT) improved by 35 percent in 2017. The operating margin for the quarter is more than 17 percent and almost 18 percent for the full-year. We have thus also met our second financial target – an average operating margin of 15 percent over the last three years.

Continuous efficiency work in combination with increased sales allows Biotage to grow with increased profitability. The gross margin is about 61 percent for the quarter as well as for the year.

System sales constituted 47 (45) percent of the sales in 2017 and aftermarket products 53 (55) percent. The major reason why we have not approached our strategic distribution goal of 40/60 is the continued success in China, where we almost exclusively are selling systems.

In 2017 Biotage made a successful launch of a new generation of the evaporation system TurboVap®. The product was well received in all our regions. In the last quarter of the year we had strong sales growth in the product area Industrial Products, which accounted for 9 percent of the sales in the period. The success is among other things a result of increased sales efforts above all in Europe and the customers' appreciation of the quality we deliver.

We also note an increased interest in our products for peptide synthesis. After the launch of Biotage® SNAP Bio for flash purification of peptides Biotage now offers also the customers in this area solutions that include consumables.

The acquisition of Horizon Technology gives us access to important knowledge and new products that strengthen our analytical chemistry offering in the environmental and food areas. The major part of the acquisition transaction costs were taken in the fourth quarter. We are now looking forward to developing this product offering and to increasing its global market penetration through our established organization for direct sales.

With regard to extended direct sales, we follow the plan for our establishment in India, where the first recruitments of new employees are in place.

Geographically the Americas remains the biggest market. The strongest growth takes place in Asia, however, with double-digit growth and where South Korea more than doubled its sales compared to the preceding year. Also in Europe sales grew with a double digit percentage in 2017.

In conclusion, I look forward towards 2018 with confidence. As usual, the year will probably bring both challenges and opportunities. As far as we ourselves can influence the development I feel that we are well prepared.

Coming financial reports

The Annual General Meeting 2018 will be held on April 26, 2018.
The interim report for the first quarter 2018 will be issued on April 26, 2018.
The interim report for the second quarter 2018 will be issued on July 16, 2018.
The interim report for the third quarter 2018 will be issued on November 6, 2018.
The year-end report for 2018 will be issued on February 7, 2019.
The Annual Report for 2017 is planned for publication in week 14 2018.

All reports are available at Biotage's website from the above dates.

This report has not been reviewed by the company's auditors.

For further information, please contact:
Torben Jörgensen,
President and CEO,
Phone: +46-707-49-05-84

Erika Söderberg Johnson,
CFO,
Phone: +46-707-20-48-20

This information is information that Biotage AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 08.30 CET on February 8, 2018.

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, Japan, South Korea and India. Biotage has approx. 350 employees and had sales of 748 MSEK in 2017. Biotage is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm. Website: www.biotage.com

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