Reported figures are for the full reporting period unless otherwise stated. Figures for the comparable reporting period last year is stated in parenthesis after realized figures.
Exiqon A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: “EXQ”) today announced full year results for 2011 in line with its guidance for the year. This comes on the back of a profitable EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2011:
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Financial highlights ('DKK million) |
Q4 (2011) | FY (2011) | Q4 (2010) | FY (2010) | 2011 Guidance | ||
| Revenue | 30,126 | 111,458 | 27,805 | 93,510 | ~110,000 | ||
| Total operating expenses | -10,617 | -49,296 | -12,406 | -45,424 | |||
| Gross profit | 19,509 | 62,162 | 15,399 | 48,086 | |||
| EBITDA excluding special items | 1,873 | -5,081 | -6,035 | -30,216 | ~ 0 | ||
| Special items | 0 | -14,200 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Net profit | 825 | -24,894 | -8,854 | -43,542 | |||
| EPS | 0.02 | -0.73 | -0.28 | -1.32 | |||
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Revenue increased 19% to DKK 111.5 million (DKK 93.5 million):
- Organic growth in Life Sciences’ product sales was 36%.
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Life Sciences’ product sales growth is primarily driven by Exqon’s proprietary miRCURY LNA™ Universal RT PCR platform for academic and clinical microRNA research.
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Gross profit increased 29% to DKK 62.2 million (DKK 48.1 million):
- Exiqon Life Sciences’ gross margin was realized at 51.4% compared to 46.6% in 2010 driven by higher volumes in product sales and lower services revenue in line with strategy.
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Total operating costs decreased 13% to DKK 76.4 million (DKK 88.3 million) excluding special items
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Operational highlights in the fourth quarter of 2011:
- On October 10, 2011 Exiqon launched a series of LNA™ products for research in and development of RNA targeted medicine including LNA™ as the active pharmaceutical ingredient after having completed litigation against Santaris Pharma a/s on October 7, 2011;
- On October 27, 2011 Exiqon announced data at the 2011 EORTC-NCI-ASCO meeting in Brussels providing initial validation of the company’s blood plasma-based miRNA PCR test for early detection of colorectal cancer and associated quality control criteria for the multicenter blood samples used to develop the test.
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Expectations for 2012:
- Following a positive EBITDA in the fourth quarter of 2011 and having achieved its full year guidance for 2011, Exiqon is now on the way to profitability.
- In 2012, Exiqon expects a positive EBIT and positive cash flow from operating activities driven by continued strong growth in research product sales of around 25% (excluding OEM).
- Total revenue is expected around DKK 130 million.
In a comment, CEO Lars Kongsbak said: ”Since our listing in 2007, we have been on an journey to reach profitability. In 2011, we saw continued improvement of all key financial figures and we reached the important milestone of break even and profitability in the fourth quarter. The goal for 2012 is a positive EBIT, driven by a continued strong growth in our core business of life science product sales.”
CEO Lars Kongsbak continued:
“Exiqon Life Sciences is broadly recognized for its superior products for microRNA analysis. In 2012, we plan to expand this business by introducing a comprehensive portfolio of new products for messengerRNA analysis. 2011 was also a successful year for our Diagnostics business and in 2012, we expect to deliver our first validated biomarker profile for early detection of colorectal cancer.“
Please see the enclosed PDF for the full Annual Report 2011.
Additional information
Lars Kongsbak, CEO, tel. +45 4566 0888 (cell: +45 4090 2101)
Hans Henrik Chrois Christensen, CFO, tel. +45 4566 0888 (cell: +45 4090 2131)
See the full release and the annual report in the attached PDF files or at www.exiqon.com/investor.
