Neogen Corporation (Neogen) has reported total revenues of $27.8 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, up 11%, compared with total revenues of $25.1 million in the year-ago quarter. It also reported net income of $2.8 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, for the third quarter of fiscal 2009, compared with net income of $2.6 million, or $0.18 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter.
Year-to-date, nine-month revenues rose 17% in the current fiscal year to $87,831,000 from FY 2008’s $75,299,000.
Year-to-date net income for the first nine months of Neogen’s 2009 fiscal year increased 17% to $10,457,000 from $8,923,000 in FY 2008, or $0.69 per share in the current year from the prior year’s $0.60.
The third quarter was the 64th consecutive profitable quarter from operations for the company, and the 68th quarter of the past 73 quarters to show increased revenues as compared with the previous year.
“Given the global economic situation, particularly in the last quarter, our performance was noteworthy,” said James Herbert, Neogen’s chief executive officer and chairman. “Though most segments of the food and animal industries have been severely impacted, food production will sustain its important position, and food and animal safety will play an ever increasing role. We will continue to work to capture a bigger share of the current market, and to position Neogen well for the new opportunities that will undoubtedly develop.”
“There were clearly some factors in the general global economy that impacted our third quarter performance,” said Lon Bohannon, Neogen’s president and chief operating officer. “Customers have been more reluctant to take the inventory stocking orders that they had in the past. We have also seen a longer decision making process in obtaining approvals for capital expenditures. We expect more normal ordering patterns to return as consumer and business confidence improves.
“I think the fact that Neogen was able to report quarterly revenue and profit growth during this economic downturn is a significant achievement,” Bohannon continued. “We continue to believe that our extensive product line of food and animal safety solutions provides us excellent short-term and long-term growth opportunities.”
“Neogen Europe’s outstanding third-quarter sales performance was almost totally nullified by the weakening British currency,” said Richard Current, Neogen’s chief financial officer. “If you take out the effect of this conversion, and a similar but not as dramatic effect from the Euro, we would have reported a 10% increase in our Food Safety Division’s third quarter sales, when compared to the prior year.”