With only nine of the 16 companies in the IBO Laboratory Instrument Index reporting quarterly results before this issue’s publication, IBO estimates fourth quarter 2013 sales improved roughly 7%, or 6% excluding currency. The jump in growth was a result of strong results from Illumina and Waters, as well as the combined Agilent Technologies Life Sciences and Diagnostics segments. Fourth quarter 2013 operating profit for the Index is projected to have advanced 13%.

Full-year 2013 Index revenues are estimated to have grown 3% both on a reported and currency-neutral basis, and operating profit is projected to have grown 4%. Life Technologies was removed from the Index following its acquisition by Thermo Fisher Scientific on February 3 (see page 2).

Affymetrix recorded better-than-expected fourth quarter 2013 sales growth, which climbed 9.8%, roughly 6% organically, to $92.6 million (see page 12). Reported sales benefited from a one-time $5.3 million licensing payment from Roche but were partially offset by the divested Anatrace product line (see IBO 10/15/13). All figures below are calculated on an organic basis (excluding the one-time payment, divested Anatrace products and transfer of the Procarta product line from the Expression business to eBioscience). Consumables sales improved 12% to account for 89% of revenues. Core Consumables and eBioscience sales grew 13% and 9%, respectively. Instrument sales declined 22.8% to make up 5% of sales. Service and Other revenue fell 34.4% to account for 6%. Overall, sales expanded in North America, Europe and China, but declined in Japan. Adjusted gross profit margin contracted 100 basis points to 61.8% of sales. Adjusted operating profit jumped 121.4% to $6.0 million, primarily due to lower headcount. The company also improved its balance sheet as it prepaid roughly 40% of its outstanding senior debt down to $39 million.

Quarterly Affymetrix Genetic Analysis and Clinical Applications sales grew by double digits organically due to strong sales of CytoScan and Axiom products. Cytogenetic sales climbed roughly 18% to make up 12% of pro forma sales (excluding the licensing payment). Sales were elevated by a growing customer base, especially for oncology and reproductive health research applications. Axiom sales jumped 63% due to new products, custom array sales and growing demand from biobanking and agbio markets. Expression sales declined in the high single digits organically to account for 30% of pro forma sales due to weak demand in Japan for in vitro transcription arrays. This decline was partially offset by higher sales of new human transcriptome and miRNA arrays. Life Science Reagents (LSR) revenue declined 6% organically to account for 7% of pro forma sales.

Full-year 2013 Affymetrix sales grew 11.8% to $330.4 million but declined roughly 2% organically. The acquisition of eBioscience and the one-time licensing payment contributed 12.7% and 1.8% to sales growth, respectively. The divested product line lowered sales growth by less than 1%. Consumables sales grew 16.4%, 2% organically, to account for 89% of pro forma revenues. Core Consumables sales improved 2% organically to $210 million. EBioscience sales were $78.2 million. Instrument sales contracted 21.6% to represent 4% of pro forma sales. Service and Other revenue slumped 23.9% to make up 7%. Including the licensing payment, Service and Other sales were down 6.0%. Adjusted gross margin improved 40 basis points to 60.3% of sales. Adjusted operating profit soared more than 13 fold to $20.5 million due to lower operating expenses.

Full-year 2013 Affymetrix Genetic Analysis and Clinical Applications sales grew roughly 14% to account for 29% of pro forma sales. Cytogenetics sales grew more than 25%, and Axiom sales jumped 73%. LSR sales declined roughly 5% but grew 2% excluding the divested products to make up 9% of pro forma sales. Expression sales declined in the double digits to make up 30%. Legacy and new products each accounted for 50% of Expression revenue. For 2014, the company projected sales to grow in the mid-single digits to $335 million. The array expression business is expected to continue to decline in the 10% range for the year. The LSR business is projected to be flat to slightly lower over the next several quarters. Operating profit is expected to decline in 2014 due to increased R&D, and headcount in China and the Middle East.

For the fiscal first quarter ending December 31, 2013, sales for Analytik Jena’s Analytical Solutions (AI) business fell 12.6% to €13.8 million ($18.9 million = €0.73 = $1) to account for 43% of revenues (see page 12). Despite strong demand in China, sales of Techno-X products fell more than 50% in Japan. AI gross profit jumped 420 basis points to 53.7% of sales due to lower cost of goods. However, segment adjusted operating profit contracted 17.6% to €1.0 million ($1.4 million) as a result of lower sales volume and higher R&D expenses. Life Science (LS) revenue jumped 45.1% to €10.7 million ($14.6 million) to account for 33% of sales. However, this growth was primarily driven by the acquisition of UVP (see IBO 4/30/13). Organic LS sales were slightly positive, as strong CyBio sales were mostly offset by lower Biometra revenue due to pricing pressure. LS profit margin fell 310 basis points to 46.4% of sales as a result of acquisition costs. Adjusted operating profit climbed 185.3% to €0.3 million ($0.5 million). For fiscal 2014, AI sales are projected to be slightly higher and SI sales are expected to grow by double digits including acquisitions.

While Luminex fourth quarter 2013 sales were marginally lower, revenue for the Technology and Strategic Partnerships (TSP) segment jumped 20.2% to $35.7 million to account for 65% of sales (see page 12). System revenue expanded 47.2% to represent 27% of TSP sales. The total number of multiplexing analyzers sold climbed 44.7% to 327 units. Sales of MAGPIX systems jumped 128.2% to 162 units. Shipments of FLEXMAP 3D systems, which carry a higher price point, climbed 94.1% from the third quarter 2013 to 33 units due to demand from diagnostics customers. Royalty revenue grew 23.3% to make up 26% of segment sales. Consumables sales slipped 2.6% to represent 34% due to lower spending from life science research partners as a result of sequestration. TSP operating profit climbed 70.3% to $10.4 million due to higher system sales and royalty revenues.

Full-year 2013 Luminex TSP sales expanded 9.1% to $132.0 million to account for 62% of company sales. System revenue grew 8.0% to account for 23% of segment sales. Overall, the total number of multiplexing analyzers shipped grew 9.9% to 1,078 units, of which all but two analyzer sales were recorded in the TSP segment. The number of FLEXMAP 3D systems sold was 73 for the year, and the number of MAGPIX systems sold grew 17.9% to 495 units. LX and MAGPIX systems represented 47% and 46% of analyzers sold, compared to 52% and 43% a year ago, respectively. Royalty revenue expanded 19.3% to make up 28% of segment sales. Consumables revenue improved 1.4% to account for 37% of segment sales. TSP operating profit climbed 21.6% to $33.8 million. Luminex projected full-year 2014 sales to grow 5%–12% to $225–$240 million, including high single-digit growth for the TSP segment.

Fiscal third quarter sales for Shimadzu’s Analytical and Measuring Instrument (AMI) division grew 19.2% to ¥41.7 billion ($414.8 million = ¥100.5 = $1) to represent 56% of company revenues (see page 12). Excluding currency, sales grew in the mid-to high single digits. AMI operating profit soared 186.3% to ¥3.7 billion ($37.3 million). For the first nine months, sales increased 16.3%, or rose in the mid-single digit range excluding currency. Given the economic recovery and stimulus spending in Japan, regional sales improved. North American sales expanded due to strong sales of LC and MS products to health care and laboratory customers. European markets continued to recover, and sales showed strength in Western Europe for LC for pharmaceutical customers, and for MS for environmental and food applications. Chinese sales were steady.