Fourth-quarter sales for the Lab Equipment/Consumables Sales Index declined 1.2% to $866.20 million, while operating profits improved 5.6% to $265.08 million. Operating margins rose 200 basis points to 30.6% of sales due to cost savings initiatives by a majority of companies in the Index. For the year, Index sales improved 7.5% to $3,557.89 million, operating profits rose 12.5% to $1,075.99 million, and operating margin improved 130 basis points to 30.2% of total annual sales.

Biohit Oy’s fourth-quarter sales increased 1%, 10% on a currency-neutral basis, to €9.4 million ($12.4 million = €0.76 = $1) (see page 12), but operating profit declined 71% to €0.1 million ($.1 million). Year-end sales grew 6%, 9% on a currency-neutral basis, to €35.1 million ($51.6 million = €0.68 = $1) from €33.0 million ($45.2 million = €0.73= $1). Operating profit was €1.3 million ($1.9 million), compared to a loss of €0.5 million ($0.6 million) due to operating efficiency and lower fixed expenses. Sales to Europe, America, Asia and other countries grew 4.1%, 0.4%, 31.1% and 7.1% to account for 56%, 18%, 11% and 15% of total sales, respectively. Liquid Handling sales grew 7.1% to account for 96% of sales, and operating profits jumped 48.4% to €3.7 million ($5.4 million). On a currency-neutral basis, Liquid Handling sales improved 10%. Excluding instrument sales, Liquid Handling revenue increased 8%, 14% on a currency-neutral basis. Diagnostics sales fell 9.2% due to lower instrument sales. Sales of test kits grew 9% to account for 80% of segment sales. Diagnostics operating loss narrowed to €2.4 million ($3.5 million) from €2.9 million ($4.0 million). In 2009, Biohit expects Liquid Handling revenue to decline slightly, but Diagnostics revenue to increase due to product introductions and new marketing efforts in the US.

Kewaunee Scientific’s revenues for the fiscal third quarter ended January 31 climbed 18.9% to $26.0 million (see page 12), while order backlog grew 3.2% to $60.7 million. Domestic sales grew 27.4% to account for 87% of sales, while international sales declined 16.5% due to slower demand for lab furniture in Singapore. Operating profit slipped 2.1% to $1.5 million, and gross margins declined 300 basis points to 19.0% of sales due to the higher costs of raw materials and a shift in product mix. Despite continued concerns over competitive pricing, the company anticipates fiscal fourth-quarter revenues to grow. Operating income is expected to benefit from stabilized raw material prices and other cost savings initiatives.

Fourth-quarter revenue for Millipore’s Bioscience division grew 2.7% to $183.3 million to account for 46% of total sales. Foreign currency and a discontinued small product line lowered revenue growth by 4% and 1%, respectively. Lab Water consumables and service revenues drove segment sales higher. Year-end Bioscience revenue climbed 10.4% to $721.3 million to make up 45% of total sales, as currency contributed 4% to growth and discontinued products negatively impacted sales by 1%. Drug Discovery products, particularly biomarkers and immunoassays, and Lab Water products and services showed strong demand. Revenue growth benefited from new products and an improved e-business platform, sales from which grew 30% for the year. The Life Science business also contributed to revenue growth, driven by demand for analytical sample preparation, cell biology and molecular biology products. Revenues in the Lab Water, Drug Discovery and Life Science divisions accounted for 40%, 11% and 49% of Bioscience sales. On a currency-neutral basis, Bioscience sales to the Americas, Europe and Asia/Pacific improved 3%, 9% and 9% to account for 38%, 38% and 25% of segment sales, respectively. Total revenues are expected to decline 1% or grow 1% in 2009, with organic growth of 2%-4%.

Fiscal second-quarter sales ended January 31 for Pall’s BioPharmaceuticals segment declined 7.2%, 0.1% on a currency-neutral basis, to $128.1 million. Sales include the Laboratory market, which was previously reported in the Medical segment. Laboratory sales rose 10.1% on a currency-neutral basis, with double-digit growth in Europe and Asia due to life science research and analytical sample preparation products. Pharmaceutical revenue fell 1.7% due to a 25.5% decline in sales of systems, primarily in the Western Hemisphere. Consumables sales grew 2.7%, driven by sales of virus removal filters. BioPharmaceuticals sales to Europe and Asia increased 4.0% and 8.7%, respectively, while Western Hemisphere sales fell 11.9%. Sales for the Life Science segment, of which Biopharmaceuticals is a part, declined 8.0%, 1.5% on a currency-neutral basis, to $225.0 million, while operating profits rose 0.9% to $48.6 million. Gross margins improved 160 basis points to 51.2% of sales due to increased pricing and product mix. For fiscal 2009, Pall expects mid-single digit sales growth for the BioPharmaceuticals segment.

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Laboratory Products and Services revenue grew 3.4% in the fourth quarter to $1,618.7 million to account for 61.2% of total revenues. Currency effects lowered revenue growth by approximately 4%. Adjusted operating profits climbed 11.8% to $237.6 million, and operating profit margins improved 110 basis points to 14.7% of sales. For the year, segment sales rose 9.2% to $6,453.3 million to represent 62% of total sales. Currency translations and acquisitions contributed 0.7% and 2.8% to revenue growth, respectively. Organic revenue growth was driven by increased demand in the research and health care markets and for biopharmaceutical services. Sales of safety market products fell. Adjusted operating income increased 12.4% to $912.0 million, while operating profit margins improved 40 basis points to 14.1% of sales due to lower operating costs and improved productivity.

VWR’s fourth-quarter sales declined 4.0% to $891.2 million (see page 12), including 2.9% growth from currency effects and acquisitions combined. Organic revenue growth was flat. Adjusted operating profit grew 1.5% to $203.8 million. Gross profit margins rose 50 basis points to 28.3% of sales. Growth was affected by a slow down in orders and the reorganization of research functions by major customers. North American Lab sales declined 3.0%, or less than 1% organically. European lab sales fell 4.6%, but grew 2.5% organically, while Education revenue declined 11.7%. VWR’s 2008 revenues grew 6.7%, 2.5% organically, to $3,759.2 million. Together, currency effects and acquisitions accounted for 4.2% growth. North American Lab sales grew 3.7%, 3.5% organically, to account for 56% of sales, led by demand from educational, industrial, clinical and government customers. European Lab sales rose 12.9%, 2.0% organically, to make up 40% of sales. Acquisitions and currency increased segment sales by 10.9%. Science Education revenue fell 5.1%.

Chart: Quarterly Operating Profit Margins January 2005—December 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% 29.3% 28.6%

2008 29.7% 30.0% 30.7% 30.6%

Chart: Quarterly Sales Performance January 2005—December 2008

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2005 690.3 698.0 667.0 687.3

2006 711.8 731.3 728.5 787.8

2007 802.5 808.5 821.8 877.0

2008 888.4 907.8 895.5 866.2