Copenhagen, 2016-04-26 14:49 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exiqon A/S (NASDAQ Copenhagen: “EXQ”) today announced results for the first three months of 2016 (comparable figures for the same period in 2015 are stated in parenthesis):
| Summarized results (DKK million) | Q1 2016 | Q1 2015 |
Pct. change on currency neutral basis |
| Total revenue | 39.0 | 39.0 | 0.1% |
| Gross profit | 25.1 | 25.9 | -3.4% |
| EBITDA (*) | 2.5 | 2.7 | -10.5% |
| Special items | -0.8 | 0.0 | N/A |
| EBIT | -0.2 | 0.9 | N/A |
| Net profit | -2.1 | 0.0 | N/A |
(*) EBITDA (defined as Earnings Before Special Items, Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization).
Highlights
- On 29 March 2016, Exiqon announced that QIAGEN N.V would submit a voluntary conditional public takeover offer to buy the entire share capital of Exiqon A/S. On 19 April 2016, after end period, Exiqon published on behalf of QIAGEN N.V the submission of a takeover offer to buy the entire share capital of Exiqon A/S for DKK 18 per share.
Revenues
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Products and service sales of DKK 34.7 million (DKK 34.6 million) are in line with the same period last year on a currency neutral basis. Easter falling in the final week of the quarter adversely affected first quarter 2016 sales compared to first quarter last year, which was record strong:
- Product sales increased 7% on a currency neutral basis to DKK 30.1 million (DKK 28.0 million) as Exiqon continues to leverage existing capabilities and capture new markets with high growth potential.
- Service sales decreased 30.6% on a currency neutral basis to DKK 4.6 million (DKK 6.6 million) due to fluctuations following strong fourth quarter 2015 sales. During the first quarter 2016, Exiqon has re-build its service order pipeline.
- Other income includes license income and grant funding of Exiqon’s development of novel diagnostics, which hold promise of transforming current healthcare practices and improve patient care. In the first quarter of 2016 other income was realized at DKK 4.4 million (DKK 4.4 million).
Other
- On 25 April 2016, Exiqon announced the publication of validation of prognostic microRNA biomarkers for the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. Recent Horizon 2020 and Innovation Foundation grant applications submitted by Exiqon and its consortia partners have been turned down. Exiqon relies on additional funding to bring its diagnostic product development to a commercial stage and on partners to commercialize any resulting tests.
- Exiqon maintains full year 2016 expectations of total revenue between DKK 180-185 million driven by around 20% growth in sales of products and services (excluding OEM) with EBITDA of DKK 15-20 million (exclusive of shared-based costs) and EBIT more than doubling. The outlook for 2016 is based on an average USD/DKK exchange rate between DKK 6.75-7.00 and does not include any significant one-time income or extraordinary costs. Extraordinary costs related to the takeover offer submitted by QIAGEN N.V. are classified special items and not reflected in the financial outlook for 2016. If the takeover offer is accepted by the shareholders, this will result in extraordinary costs of approximately DKK 25–30 million. In the absence of shareholder acceptance of the takeover offer, extraordinary costs will expectedly not exceed DKK 5 million.
In a comment CEO Lars Kongsbak said: “Given a quarter shortened by the Easter Holidays, we deliver a solid first quarter 2016 in line with last year’s record first quarter revenues. The quarter was impacted by costs incurred as a result of the recent takeover offer submitted by QIAGEN N.V. We have a strong pipeline of significant orders and expect higher growth in the second half of the year in line with previous years. Our new XploreRNA™ initiative has seen first returning customers, validating the idea of a fully integrated platform for data analysis and custom assay design.”
