Below are financial reviews for Oxford Instruments and Analytik Jena, both of which are in IBO’s Lab Instrument Sales Index. Each company experienced strong operating gains.

For the fiscal half year ending September 30, 2011, Oxford Instruments’ sales grew 40.5%, 30.0% organically, to £159.1 million ($252.5 million = £0.63 = $1). Acquisitions added 11.8% to growth, but currency reduced growth by 1.3%. Orders grew 23.7%, 15.1% organically, to £174.8 million ($277.5 million). Orders from China rose 53%. Adjusted operating income rose 58.8% to £18.9 million ($30.0 million). Gross margin slipped 194 basis points to 41.2% of sales due to product mix. Nanotechnology Tools (NT) organic sales grew 18.3% due to strong research funding for alternative energy and sales of the Aztec system, but were slightly offset by lower LED revenue and reduced Japanese research funding. NT operating profit rose 25.9% to £7.3 million ($11.6 million). Industrial Products (IP) sales advanced due to higher shipments of superconducting wire and a large order for cryogenic equipment. Demand for X-ray fluorescence and optical emissions metal analyzers was also strong. IP operating income soared 230.0% to £6.6 million ($10.5 million). Organic Service sales grew 13.9%, and operating profit rose 22.0% to £5.0 million ($7.9 million).

For the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011, Analytik Jena’s sales grew 7.6% to €86.3 million ($119.9 million = €0.72 = $1). Operating profit rose 59.3% to €5.0 million ($7.0 million). Life Science (LS) sales grew 14.6% in the fourth quarter and rose 2.7% for the full year to €28.3 million ($39.3 million) to represent 33% of sales. Sales growth was curbed by Japan’s natural disaster and slower US and European demand. LS operating loss fell 28.9% to €0.3 million ($0.4 million), and gross profit soared 520 basis points to 48.7% due to lower cost of goods. Full-year Analytical Instrument (AI) revenue climbed 11.3% to €53.2 million ($73.9 million) to account for 62% of sales. AI sales benefited from the acquired LIMS firm (see IBO 4/30/11) and demand for atomic spectrometers. AI operating profit grew 58.9% to €4.5 million ($6.3 million) due to restrained expenditures. Gross profit fell 180 basis points to 52.2% of sales because of pricing pressure. Optic sales fell 1.1% to €4.8 million ($6.7 million) to make up 5% of sales, operating profit rose 11.0% to €0.7 million ($1.0 million), and gross margin rose 530 basis points to 42.9% of sales.

 Oxford Instruments Half Year 2011

                 % Rev. Grow.    % of Rev.

 Nanotech. Tools     43.1%          44%

 Industrial Prod.    46.1%          40%

 Service             19.1%          16%

 


 Analytik Jena FYE 2011 

                % Rev. Grow.     % of Rev.

 Germany             -9.5%          28%

 Other Europe        17.2%          27%

 Asia                20.4%          35%

 America             -6.9%           7%

 Rest of World       31.8%           3%