ICON third quarter net revenues increase 7% to $241 million

ICON (NASDAQ:ICLR)(ISIN:IE0005711209), a global provider of outsourced development services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device industries, today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2011.

Net revenues for the quarter grew 7% to $241 million compared to $225 million in the same quarter last year. Year-to-date, net revenues were $703 million, representing a 5% increase over the same period last year.

In Q3 US GAAP losses from operations were $3.6 million. During the quarter the company undertook a number of cost reduction steps which led to restructuring costs of $4.8 million. Before restructuring charges operating income was $1.1 million or 0.5% of revenue compared to $17.6 million or 7.8% of revenue for the same period last year. The year to date income from operations before restructuring charges was $32.6 million or 4.6% of revenue compared to $70 million or 10.5% of revenue last year.

US GAAP net loss in the quarter was $2.7 million or 4c per share. Excluding restructuring charges net income was $1.5 million or 2 cents per share on a diluted basis, compared to $19.9 million or 33 cents per share last year. Year to date net income before restructuring charges was 27.4 million or 45c per share compared to $65 million or $1.07 per share last year.

Days sales outstanding, comprising accounts receivable and unbilled revenue less payments on account, were 52 days at September 30, 2011, compared to 49 days at June 30 2011.

Net cash at September 30 2011 amounted to $166 million, compared to net cash of $215 million at the end of June 2011. During the quarter ICON acquired Firecrest Clinical Ltd for an initial cash consideration of $24.4 million. Firecrest Clinical provides a comprehensive site performance management system that is used to improve compliance, consistency and execution of activities at investigative sites.

The Board of Directors have approved a share buy-back programme of up to $50 million to commence in Q4.

CEO Ciaran Murray commented, "Our success in developing significant strategic partnerships has resulted in a milestone quarter of record net new business of $431m. To position ourselves for the future growth that will result from our backlog increasing by 16% over last year we have added circa 500 staff during the quarter which has impacted profitability. Looking forward, we will continue to invest in both our existing business and in our strategic relationships to provide quality services to our customers. For 2012, we expect revenue growth to be in the region of 15% to 20% and EPS to be in the range of $0.90 to $1.10."

Source: ICON plc