Interim report January

First quarter 2012

  ·     Group net sales increased by 12 percent to 119.6
MSEK (107.2). At comparable exchange rates sales increased by 8 percent.
  ·
    The operating result amounted to 8.6 MSEK (2.6).
  ·     The result after
tax amounted to 7.9 MSEK (1.5).
  ·     Earnings per share amounted to 0.11 SEK
(0.02).
  ·     The cash flow from operating activities amounted to 10.2 MSEK
(32.7).
  ·     Net cash at March 31 amounted to 179.4 MSEK, compared to 198.4
MSEK at December 31, 2011.

Comments by CEO Torben Jörgensen
The start of the
year has been good. We show good growth with a sales increase of 12 percent in
the quarter and we bring a strong inflow of orders into the second quarter. The
organic growth is 8 percent compared to the corresponding period 2011,
calculated at comparable exchange rates. We had sales amounting to 119.6 MSEK,
compared with 107.2 MSEK the first quarter 2011. The Group reports an operating
result of 8.6 MSEK despite an unfavorable exchange rate development that led to
a negative translation effect for foreign assets to the amount of 3.4
MSEK.

The US was the biggest single market with 35 percent of the net sales.
The EU area contributed 32, Japan 21, China 6 and the rest of the world 6
percent of the net sales. The EU area achieved a good first quarter compared to
last year, with good growth above all in analytical chemistry. The sales in the
US have been satisfactory during the quarter, with primarily the product areas
purification and Sample Prep showing growth. We are especially pleased that the
purification sales have recovered in the US, where we for a period have been
losing market shares. The Japanese market continues to develop well and we once
again see a strong first quarter in this region.

Our initiative to build or
own representation in China is off to a good start and we have high hopes that
we will strengthen our market position in this important market. Sales in other
parts of the world where we do not have direct representation vary. We
continuously evaluate alternative solutions to strengthen our sales also in
these markets. The lack of sales successes is partly due to the general
financial climate, where not least funding of academic research plays a part. In
spite of this I believe that we have good opportunities to further develop our
indirect sales channels, above all in the growing Indian market.

To sum up,
the efforts in analytical chemistry, above all Sample Prep, have given us new
customer groups for sale of Biotage’s products. At the same time we continue to
develop our product offerings to customers in organic chemistry. At the end of
last year we launched a number of new products that have contributed to the good
sales development in this quarter. At the beginning of the year we have also
carried out well received launches of both instruments and consumables. It is
important for Biotage to achieve a good balance between the different customer
groups, as this not only improves the opportunities for growth but also levels
peaks and dips in the more capital intensive and pharma industry dependent
product offering in organic chemistry.

The launches of consumables in organic
chemistry carried out in the first quarter have, together with the initiative in
analytical chemistry, meant that we continue to increase the relative share of
consumables in our sales. Taken together, consumables and service now account
for 58 percent of our sales, compared to 57 percent in 2011.

The new focus on
purification and separation projects in production scale is still under
development. We have a positive view of the development potential of these
operations and we have now started deliveries to a customer in Asia of polymer
used in regular industry production.

In the second quarter our plant in Lund
for the production of polymer raw materials for analytical chemistry and pilot
scale will be completed.

Biotage continues to have a strong financial
position with net cash at March 31 2012 amounting to 179.4 MSEK (198.4 MSEK at
the end of 2011). During the quarter the company repurchased 3.1 million own
shares for a total of 20.5 MSEK.

For further information, please
contact:
Torben Jörgensen, President and CEO, phone: +46 707 49 05 84
Erika
Söderberg Johnson, CFO, phone: +46 730 50 80 56        

The information in
this press release 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 15.00 on April 26, 2012.

About Biotage
Biotage
offers solutions, knowledge and experience in the areas of analytical chemistry
and medicinal chemistry. The customers include the world’s largest
pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and leading academic institutes. The
company is headquartered in Uppsala and has offices in the US, UK, China and
Japan. Biotage has about 270 employees and had sales of 428.1 MSEK in 2011.
Biotage is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic Stockholm stock exchange. Website:
www.biotage.com
Interim report January - March 2012

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