UPPSALA, Sweden, Feb. 25, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) --
- Biacore's sales in the fourth quarter of 2003 amounted to SEK 160.8 million (175.9), a decrease of 9% mostly due to currency effects. For the full-year 2003, sales decreased by 16% to SEK 515.5 million (614.2). Excluding currency effects, the sales decline was 9%.
- Biacore's earnings per share in the fourth quarter amounted to SEK 5.67 (4.15), an increase of 37%. For the full-year 2003, earnings per share decreased by 45% to SEK 4.53 (8.20). Lower sales and the cost associated with the discontinuation of Procel(TM) were the main reasons for this decrease.
- Biacore has decided to increase its investment, particularly in sales and marketing, to capture the significant business opportunities that exist for its core SPR technology. This investment is designed to further penetrate the late-stage drug discovery market and to underpin the successful launch of the Company's ground-breaking SPR array system in 2004.
- Biacore's Board has decided to take the initial steps needed to de- list the Company's ADRs from Nasdaq National Market in the United States. This decision is due to the increasing costs of maintaining this listing, the lack of advantages with a dual listing and the limited number of Biacore ADRs traded on Nasdaq.
- The Board has decided to recommend to the Annual General Meeting an unchanged dividend payment for the financial year 2003 of SEK 3.00 per share.
- The current market and currency conditions make an accurate sales forecast for 2004 difficult. However, Biacore expects sales and earnings per share for the full-year 2004 to increase. As always, sales and earnings are likely to vary substantially between the quarters.
For further information, please contact: Dr Ulf Jonsson, President and CEO, Phone +41 (0)79 668 8336 Lars-Olov Forslund, CFO, Phone +41 (0)79 347 9900 Jan Isoz, Investor Relations, Phone +46 (0)708 10 31 17
Biacore International AB (publ)Company registration number: 556534-5211
Head office
Biacore International SA, Puits-Godet 12, CH-2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland Phone +41 32 720 9000
www.biacore.com info@biacore.com (SSE: BCOR; Nasdaq: BCOR; Reuters: BCOR.N)
This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net
The following files are available for download:
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/02/25/20040225BIT00520/wkr0001.doc
The full report
http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/02/25/20040225BIT00520/wkr0002.pdf
The full report