Qiagen's $113.2M 2nd-qtr sales beat forecasts

Dutch molecular diagnostics developer Qiagen NV says that it, revenues for the second quarter of 2006 were $113.2 million, up 13% on the comparable period last year and ahead of Lehman Brothers' consensus forecast of $112.3 million. In addition, the firm reported that its diluted earnings per share were $0.09, slightly behind the $0.13 that analysts predicted, but stable with respect to the second quarter of 2005.

Also during the period, the firm acquired USA-based nucleic acids specialists Gentra Systems (Marketletter May 22), in a transaction which included the latter's range of sample preparation products, DNA archiving capability and diagnostic assays technology.

The firm reported costs of $7.4 million for the period, including: $1.9 million relating to the amortization of acquisition-related intangibles; acquisition and integration expenses of $4.6 million; $785,000 arising from its relocation and restructuring activities; and statement of financial accounting standards No 123 (FSFAS 123R) which cost the company $60,000.