Second-quarter revenues for IBO’s Lab Equipment/Consumables Sales Index grew 12.8% to $912.0 million, and operating profits jumped 18.7% to $273.5 million. Adjusted operating margins improved 150 basis points to 30.0% of sales.

Biohit Oy’s second-quarter sales grew 14% to €9.1 million ($14.2 million = €0.64 = $1) from €7.9 million ($10.7 million = €0.74 = $1), while operating income was €0.2 million ($0.3 million) compared to a loss of €0.9 million ($1.2 million) a year ago. Liquid Handling sales rose 14% to €8.6 million ($13.4 million) to make up 94% of sales. Segment revenue growth benefited from new products and strategic marketing initiatives, resulting in particularly strong sales in Asia, Russia and North America. Liquid Handling operating profits climbed to €0.8 million ($1.3 million) from a breakeven point due to improved operating efficiencies and higher sales. Diagnostics sales grew 24% to €0.4 million ($0.4 million) despite lower instrument sales and was driven by sales of kits. Diagnostics recorded an operating loss of €0.6 million ($0.9 million) compared to a loss of €0.9 ($1.2 million) in the previous second quarter.

For the fiscal third quarter ended August 31, revenue for Gerresheimer’s Life Science Research climbed 10.1%, or 26.4% on a currency-neutral basis, to €22.9 million ($34.2 million = €0.67 = $1) from €20.9 million ($28.6 million = €0.73= $1) to account for 8.5% of company sales. Revenue growth benefited from increased sales in China and sales recorded from its Kimble Chase joint venture with Thermo Fisher Scientific. In the previous third quarter, Life Science Research revenues included only two months of sales from the joint venture. As a result, adjusted operating profits grew 61.1% to €2.9 million ($4.3 million), but also benefited from transferring manufacturing operations to low-cost locations such as Mexico and China.

Kewaunee Scientific’s fiscal first-quarter sales ended July 31 grew 22.2% to $25.4 million (see page 12), and order backlog improved 10.4% to $60.4 million. Domestic and international sales rose 16.6% and 58.2% to account for 82.7% and 17.3% of total sales, respectively. Operating profit jumped 58.3% to $1.8 million due to improved operating efficiencies and cost-saving initiatives, while gross margin climbed 60 basis points to 21.1% of sales.

Second-quarter revenue for Millipore’s Bioscience division grew 17.9%, or 9% organically, to $184.4 million to account for 44.5% of Millipore’s sales. Revenue growth was led by strong sales of laboratory water, life science, and drug discovery products and services. In the laboratory water business, sales growth was driven by the new Milli-Q Integral, particularly in North America. The company anticipates continued demand for the Integral product, as efforts to launch in Asian markets were initiated during the current quarter. The life science unit benefited from product introduction and investments made in marketing and sales during previous quarters. The drug discovery unit accounted for the fastest revenue growth within the Bioscience product portfolio due to strong demand for the company’s Luminex multiplex platform and increased development of biomarker assays for biopharmaceutical customers. Bioscience sales to the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific climbed 5.9%, 28.8% and 23.0% to account for 37.8%, 39.3% and 22.9% of segment sales, respectively. On a currency-neutral basis, sales to the America, Europe and Asia/Pacific grew 5.2%, 12.8% and 10.5%, respectively.

For the fiscal fourth-quarter ended July 31, revenue for Pall’s BioPharmaceuticals segment increased 13.3%, or 4.6% on a currency-neutral basis, to $115.9 million. Full-year revenues climbed 19.4%, or 10.8% on a currency-neutral basis, to $483.4 million, to make up 50% of Life Sciences revenues. BioPharmaceuticals revenue was driven by strong sales of systems and consumables, which grew 41% and 8%, respectively. Sales to Europe, the Western Hemisphere and Asia improved 15.4%, 3.9% and 7.8%, respectively. For fiscal year 2009, the company anticipates segment sales to grow in double digits.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, Techne’s Biotechnology and R&D Europe units reported revenue growth of 12.9% and 22.6% to account for 64.4% and 29.4% of total sales, respectively. Foreign currency transactions contributed 10.4% growth to R&D Europe revenue. Within the Biotechnology segment, sales to international distributors, pharmaceutical/biotechnology customers and academic customers grew 14.5%, 10.0% and 7.7%, respectively. Segment gross margins declined 20 basis points to 79.7% of sales. Revenue for the R&D Europe segment benefited from higher sales volume and currency transactions, which contributed 10.4% to revenue growth. Segment gross margins improved 360 basis points to 56.5% of sales, primarily due to favorable exchange rates. Operating income for the company as a whole rose 15.6% to $145.4 million.

Second-quarter sales for Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Laboratory Products and Services segment grew 14.3% to $1,656.4 million to account for 61% of the company’s revenues. Acquisitions and foreign currency transaction contributed 3.2% and 2.8% to the segment’s revenue growth, respectively. The company reported sustained revenue growth in the healthcare and research markets, while demand for services in the biopharmaceutical markets was particularly strong, with organic growth in the midteens. Demand for safety products improved, but remained flat for the year. Adjusted operating income increased 14.2% to $231.5 million, while operating margin remained unchanged at 14.0% of sales. .

VWR’s second-quarter revenues grew 12.8% to $965.5 million, including 8.8% growth from acquisitions and favorable currency effects combined. Adjusted operating profits improved 15.6% to $47.4 million, while gross profit margins improved 116 basis points to 28.1% of sales. Sales for North American Lab climbed 5.6%, or 4.6% on a currency-neutral basis, to account for 55.0% of total sales. Pharmaceutical and industrial sales grew in the low single digits and low to mid-single digits, respectively. On a sequential basis, pharmaceutical and industrial revenue growth fell due to lower sales to larger customers. European Lab sales grew 25.4%, including 22.4% growth from foreign currency effects and acquisitions, to make up 41.1% of revenues. Sales to government, education and industrial customer improved, while pharmaceutical sales were flat and sales to export customers declined. Science Education revenue grew 1.1% to account for 3.9% of sales due to increased demand for consumer products line and from the publisher business. Adjusted operating income for North American Lab and European Lab grew 31.9% and 14.3% to $24.8 and $21.6 million, respectively, but for Science Education, it declined 69.7% to $1.0 million.

Quarterly Operating Profit Margins January 2005—June 2008

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2005 26.6% 25.7% 24.0% 25.9%

2006 25.9% 25.7% 26.4% 27.4%

2007 29.2% 28.5% 29.2% 28.3%

2008 29.7% 30.0%

Quarterly Sales Performance January 2005—June 2008

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2005 690.3 698.0 667.0 687.3

2006 711.8 731.3 728.5 787.8

2007 802.5 808.6 815.1 866.9

2008 886.6 912.0

Laboratory Equipment/Distribution Index, Total % Change

2005 2006 2007 2008 05/06 06/07 07/08

Total Annual Revenues ($M) 2743 2959 3293 —- 7.9 11.3 —–

2nd Quarter Revenues ($M) 698 731 809 912 4.8 10.6 12.8

Annual Oper. Profits ($M) 701 780 948 —- 11.2 21.5 —–

Annual Oper. Profits (%) 25.6 26.4 28.8 —- —– —– —–

2nd Quarter Oper. Profits ($M) 180 188 230 274 4.5 22.8 18.7

2nd Quarter Oper. Profits (%) 25.7 25.7 28.5 30.0 —– —– —–