Christine A. Tsingos
Analyst · Leerink Swann
Thanks, Ron. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Today, we will review the fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2012, as well as provide some insight into our thinking for 2013. Let's start with a review of the quarterly results. We are pleased to report that net sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 were a record $573.8 million, an increase of 4.3% versus the year-ago period sales of $550.2 million. On a currency-neutral basis, quarterly sales grew an impressive 6.1%. During the quarter, we experienced good currency-neutral sales growth in our diabetes monitoring, quality controls and BioPlex 2200 product line, as well as many of our Life Science product lines, most notably, process chromatography, amplification consumables and sales of our QX100 Digital PCR system. The overall quarterly growth was tempered somewhat by continued sluggishness in Europe. The consolidated gross margin for the quarter was in line with expectations at 55.9% and compares to last year's gross margin of 56.5%. The decline in margin versus last year is primarily reflective of product mix, increased amortization cost and continued pricing pressure. During the quarter, we recorded a total of approximately $6.9 million in cost of goods sold for the noncash, purchase accounting expense related to prior acquisitions, which compares to $6.2 million in the year-ago period. SG&A expense for the fourth quarter was $189.1 million or 32.9% of sales compared to $175 million or 31.8% of sales last year. The increase in spend versus last year is partially related to our ERP project, but also reflective of the onetime reversal of our incentive bonus accruals of approximately $9 million that occurred in the fourth quarter of last year. Amortization of intangibles related to our acquisitions recorded in SG&A in the fourth quarter was approximately $2.4 million. Research and development expense in Q4 was 10.4% of sales or $59.8 million. This increase in spending, both sequentially and year-over-year, is reflective of our investments in Digital PCR and cell biology products, as well as focus on the development of new products for diagnostic markets such as diabetes monitoring and blood typing. Interest and other for the quarter was a net expense of approximately $6.2 million compared to $12 million last year. This lower expense amount versus last year is related to a onetime gain of approximately $4.3 million for the sale of a building and land, as well as increased investment income. The effective tax rate used in the fourth quarter was 28% and in line with our guidance. Remember that last year's lower rate of 20% was primarily related to the finalization of foreign audit, as well as decreases in tax reserves due to statute lapses. Reported net income for the fourth quarter was $47.5 million or $1.65 per share on a fully diluted basis compared to $59.2 million last year or $2.08 per share. Excluding the onetime gain for the sale of real property, we estimate that fully diluted earnings per share would have been $1.57. Our Life Science group reported record sales for the fourth quarter of $204.2 million, a growth of 2.7% versus last year, which was also a very strong quarter for the group. On a currency-neutral basis, sales increased 3.7% for the quarter. These quarterly results reflect strong sales of amplification reagents, process media and continued growth of our new Digital PCR system. On a geographic basis, sales in Latin America and the U.S. were especially robust. Strength in the topline combined with good expense management helped to push segment profit for the Life Science group significantly higher when compared to the first 3 individual quarters of 2012. Our Clinical Diagnostics group also achieved record sales for the quarter of $365.9 million compared to $347.3 million last year, an increase of 5.3% on a reported basis or an impressive 7.5% currency neutral. These sales were led by continued strong performance in the quality controls and diabetes product lines, as well as solid growth for Microbiology and BioPlex 2200 revenue. On a geographic view, diagnostic currency-neutral sales for the quarter increased most notably in Asia Pacific and North America, but were somewhat offset by a continued decline in Europe. Reported fourth quarter segment profit for diagnostic also remains strong at more than $51 million. Looking at the full year results, we are pleased to report annual revenues of $2,069,000,000, about flat with last year on a reported basis. On a currency-neutral basis, sales for the year grew 3.6%, which represents the currency headwind of more than $79 million. The organic currency-neutral growth for the full year was 3.1%. With a challenging global funding environment, our Life Science group posted annual sales of $688.4 million, a decrease of about 1% versus 2011 and a growth of 1.5% currency neutral. This sales growth was primarily fueled by our Digital PCR product line, which finished the year slightly lower than our original guidance. We also saw good annual growth in our process media, amplification consumables and electrophoresis product lines, as well as good growth in the Latin America and Asia Pacific regions. During the year, we introduced several new platforms and consumables, which bode well for future growth. Moreover, the recent launches of the new S3 Cell Sorter and our next-generation chromatography system, coupled with the addition of the Serotec antibody business, should help to broaden our reach into the tools market around the world during 2013. For the year, Clinical Diagnostic sales were $1,365,000,000, slightly higher than 2011 on a reported basis and an increase of 4.7% on a currency-neutral basis. This growth was fueled by continued momentum in quality controls and diabetes monitoring products. On a geographical view, Asia Pacific and the other emerging markets such as Latin America and Eastern Europe showed good growth for the year. This growth was partially offset by a decline in Europe, our largest market. Total company gross margins for the full year were 56.1%, in line with our original guidance set at the beginning of the year and compares to 56.8% in 2011. The decrease in margin versus last year is primarily related to the addition of $10 million of acquisition-related amortization expense in our Life Science segment. Total amortization of intangibles and purchase accounting reported in cost of goods sold in 2012 was $26.8 million. SG&A expense as a percent of sales was 33% for the year and better than we estimated at the beginning of 2012. The 2 primary drivers of this better-than-expected margins resulted from the accounting reversal recorded during the year for the $16 million reduction in the QuantaLife earnout valuation as sales were lower than expected, as well as the bad debt allowance reduction of more than $6 million, following unexpected payment from the government of Spain. Excluding these 2 noncash items, the SG&A margins for the year was approximately 34%. SG&A expense for acquisition-related amortization was $11.7 million for the full year. Research and development expense in 2012 was substantially higher at $214 million or 10.3% of sales. This increase is a direct reflection of our investment in Digital PCR and cell biology, as well as new product development in the Diagnostics segment. Looking to 2013, R&D expenses as a percentage of sales will likely stay at that 10% level as we move a number of investments through the product development pipeline. Net income for the full year was $169.2 million versus last year's net income of $178.2 million, a decrease of about 5%. As we guided at the beginning of the year, the decline in net profit primarily relates to our investment in new IT systems and the addition of QuantaLife. The effective tax rate for the full year was 27%. For 2013, we expect the effective tax rate, excluding any discrete items that may occur, will be in the 27% to 29% range. This estimated rate includes the impact of the retroactive reinstatement of the 2012 federal R&D credit, which is estimated to benefit our effective rate by approximately 1% for the full-2013 year, and around 5% in the first quarter. For 2012, Bio-Rad's balance sheet also remains strong. As of December 31, total cash and short-term investments were $921 million compared to $813 million at the end of last year. Net cash generated from operations during the fourth quarter was $98.7 million and $278.9 million for the full year 2012. The year-over-year increase in cash flow is the result of higher collections and investment income, as well as lower interest payment. EBITDA grew to record levels for 2012, finishing the year at more than $411 million. Net capital expenditures were $34 million for the quarter and $146.1 million for the full year, slightly above the $130 million to $140 million range estimated at the beginning of 2012, and driven by better-than-expected instrument places -- placement in our diagnostic market. The decrease in fourth quarter net CapEx is primarily related to our onetime gain on the sale of real property. Looking to 2013, we estimate that CapEx spending will continue in the $140 million to $150 million range, primarily reflecting our continuing investment in new IT systems and technology. And finally, depreciation and amortization for the quarter was $35.5 million and $130 million for the full year. We are pleased with our 2012 operating results, especially in light of some challenging economic headwinds for both tools and diagnostics in many parts of the world, and we anticipate that this challenging economic environment will likely continue into 2013, especially in Europe, as well as potentially in the U.S. with the ongoing uncertainty surrounding sequestration. However, a strong product lineup should help to offset some of these challenges. We have begun shipping our new benchtop cell sorter and will soon launch a next-generation chromatography system used for protein purification in the academic and biopharma markets. On the diagnostic side of the business, we are looking forward to new products and opportunities in the blood typing, diabetes monitoring and quality controls market. Given this combination of both headwinds and drivers, we are estimating currency-neutral sales growth to be in the 3% to 3.5% range for 2013. With regard to margins, we are hoping to hold the full year gross margin basically flat around 56% despite adding $5 million to $10 million of estimated medical device tax and incremental amortization associated with the new cell biology technology. Looking to the operating margin outlook, we view 2013 as another year of investment, and thus, are estimating an increase in spend during the year, including an incremental $15 million to $20 million related to our ERP project. The net result of these internal investments and the Medical Device Act will likely produce an operating margin in the 11% to 11.5% range for the full year. Keep in mind that our 2012 operating margin, excluding the $22 million of accounting reversals I spoke of earlier, was 11.7%. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we anticipate a full year effective tax rate of 27% to 29%, and CapEx spend of $140 million to $150 million for 2013. And finally, we would emphasize that this outlook for 2013 does not include our recent acquisition of AbD Serotec. We are currently in the process of analyzing the operations and purchase price valuations. Our best estimate at this time is that the antibody business will add about $20 million to $25 million of incremental sales to the topline in 2013, and be a headwind to operating income in the $7 million to $10 million range, including amortization expense. We will be able to give you a finalized 2013 outlook, including the Serotec business, on our first quarter earnings call. And now, I'll turn the call over to Norman for a few comments.