EX-99.1 2 v182667_ex99-1.htm Unassociated Document
Contact:
Clint Severson
 
Lytham Partners, LLC
 
Chief Executive Officer
 
Joe Dorame, Robert Blum and Joe Diaz
 
Abaxis, Inc.
510-675-6500
 
602-889-9700


ABAXIS REPORTS RECORD REVENUES FOR
THE FOURTH QUARTER AND FISCAL 2010

Union City, California – April 29, 2010 - ABAXIS, Inc. (NasdaqGS: ABAX), a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today reported financial results for the fiscal quarter and the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.

Record quarterly and fiscal 2010 highlights include:
·
Revenues of $33.7 million for the fourth quarter, up 28% over last year’s comparable quarter, and $124.6 million for fiscal 2010, up 18% year-over-year.
·
North America revenues of $27.6 million for the fourth quarter, up 24% over last year’s comparable quarter, and $101.4 million for fiscal 2010, up 15% year-over-year.
·
Veterinary market sales of $25.0 million for the fourth quarter, up 28% over last year’s comparable quarter, and $92.4 million for fiscal 2010, up 25% year-over-year.
·
Total medical reagent disc sales of 582,000 units for the fourth quarter, up 41% over last year’s comparable quarter, and 1.9 million units for fiscal 2010, up 10% year-over-year.
·
Total medical and veterinary reagent disc sales of 1.5 million units for the fourth quarter, up 14% over last year’s comparable quarter, and 5.7 million units for fiscal 2010, up 9% year-over-year.
·
Total medical and veterinary reagent disc sales of $19.1 million for the fourth quarter, up 12% over last year’s comparable quarter, and $72.0 million for fiscal 2010, up 12% year-over-year.
Other quarterly and fiscal 2010 highlights include:
·
Total medical and veterinary instrument sales of 1,065 units for the fourth quarter, up 49% over last year’s comparable quarter, and 4,036 units for fiscal 2010, up 29% year-over-year.
·
Cash, cash equivalents and investments as of March 31, 2010 of $96.5 million, compared to $74.9 million as of March 31, 2009.

Quarterly Results:  For the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2010, Abaxis reported revenues of $33.7 million, as compared with revenues of $26.3 million for the comparable period last year, an increase of 28 percent.  Revenues from instrument sales, which include chemistry analyzers, hematology instruments, coagulation analyzers and i-STAT analyzers, increased by an aggregate of $2.0 million, or 36 percent, over the same period last year.  The company reported total medical and veterinary instrument sales of 1,065 units, up 49 percent over the same period last year.  Revenues from consumables, which include reagent discs, hematology reagent kits, coagulation cartridges, i-STAT cartridges and heartworm rapid tests, increased by an aggregate of $5.1 million, or 27 percent, over the same period last year.  The company reported net income of $2.6 million for the fiscal quarter ended March 31, 2010, which was flat in comparison to the same period last year.  The company’s effective tax rate in the quarter ended March 31, 2010 was 41 percent, compared to 40 percent for the same period last year.  The company reported diluted net income per share of $0.12 (calculated based on 22,725,000 shares) for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, compared to $0.12 per share (calculated based on 22,302,000 shares) for the same period last year.

Fiscal 2010 Results:  For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, Abaxis reported revenues of $124.6 million, as compared with revenues of $105.6 million for the prior year, an increase of 18 percent.  Revenues from instrument sales increased by an aggregate of $593,000, or 2 percent, over the prior year.  The company reported total medical and veterinary instrument sales of 4,036 units, up 29 percent over the prior year.  Revenues from consumables increased by an aggregate of $16.7 million, or 24 percent, over the prior year.  The company reported net income of $13.0 million, compared to $12.0 million for the prior year.  The company’s effective tax rate in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, was 39 percent, compared to 37 percent for the prior year.  The company reported diluted net income per share of $0.58 (calculated based on 22,606,000 shares) for fiscal 2010, compared to $0.54 per share (calculated based on 22,324,000 shares) for fiscal 2009.
 


Other Reported Information:  Consumables revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 were $23.8 million, up 27 percent over the $18.7 million reported for the same period last year.  Total sales in the medical market for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 were $6.9 million, an increase of 36 percent compared to the same period last year. Medical sales worldwide, excluding sales to the U.S. government, during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 were $6.3 million, an increase of 42 percent compared to the same period last year.  Total sales in the veterinary market for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 were $25.0 million, an increase of 28 percent compared to the same period last year.  Veterinary reagent disc sales for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 were $14.0 million, an increase of 6 percent compared to the same period last year.

Non-cash compensation expense recognized for share-based awards during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010 was $1.6 million, compared to $443,000 for the same period last year.  Non-cash compensation expense recognized for share-based awards in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 was $5.3 million, compared to $1.7 million for the same period last year.
 
Clint Severson, chairman and chief executive officer of Abaxis, commented, “Fiscal 2010 was another solid year for Abaxis.  While macro-economic conditions continued to be challenging throughout the year, we achieved double-digit growth in revenues, expanded our installed instrument base in both our veterinary and medical markets and achieved record reagent discs sales.  The fourth quarter was a solid contributor to the results for the fiscal year with strong double-digit growth in sales of all instrument categories as well as reagent discs sales.  During the quarter, we did incur higher costs related to the introduction of new products in veterinary market.  However, we believe that we will benefit in the coming years with a wider palette of products to serve our customers.  All in all, we are very pleased with the financial and operational results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year.”
 
Mr. Severson continued, “As we move into the new fiscal year, we are better positioned to operate even more efficiently going forward.  Throughout fiscal 2010, we took a number of important steps to improve on the quality of our offerings and to support our customers at a world-class level.  We believe that the instruments we produce today are the most accurate and reliable in the history of the company.  Our customers, across all medical and veterinary practices, now benefit from the advanced engineering that is the hallmark of all Abaxis products, and they are better served by a sales, marketing and customer support regime that is second to none in the industry.  We look forward to continue to grow our business and serve our customers in 2010 and beyond.”
 
Conference Call
Abaxis has scheduled a conference call to discuss its results at 4:15 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, April 29, 2010.  Participants can dial (877) 317-6789 or (412) 317-6789 to access the conference call, or can listen via a live Internet web cast, which is available in the Investor Relations section of the company’s website at http://www.abaxis.com.  A replay of the call is available by visiting http://www.abaxis.com for the next 30 days or by calling (877) 344-7529 or (412) 317-0088, access code 440020, through May 3, 2010.  This press release is also available prior to and after the call via Abaxis’ website or the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
 
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About Abaxis
Abaxis develops, manufactures and markets portable blood analysis systems for use in any veterinary or human patient-care setting to provide clinicians with rapid blood constituent measurements.  The system consists of a compact, 5.1 kilogram (11.2 pounds), portable analyzer and a series of single-use plastic discs, called reagent discs that contain all the chemicals required to perform a panel of up to 13 tests on veterinary patients and 14 tests on human patients.  The system can be operated with minimal training and performs multiple routine tests on whole blood, serum or plasma samples.  The system provides test results in less than 12 minutes with the precision and accuracy equivalent to a clinical laboratory analyzer.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
To supplement the financial statements presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), Abaxis uses the following non-GAAP financial measures:  non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP operating income, non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP net income per share and non-GAAP operating income per share.  The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.  For more information on these non-GAAP financial measures, refer to the tables captioned “Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results of Net Income to GAAP Measures” and “Non-GAAP Operating Income Per Share” included at the end of this release.

Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income per Share.  Abaxis defines non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per share as net income plus share-based compensation.  Abaxis uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons.  Management believes that these non-GAAP financial measures provide meaningful supplemental information regarding Abaxis’ performance and liquidity by excluding certain expenses that may not be indicative of its recurring core business operating results or operating performance, by excluding non-cash charges, such as share-based compensation.

Non-GAAP Operating Income per Share.  Abaxis defines non-GAAP operating income per share as operating income divided by the weighted average outstanding shares.  Management uses this measure in comparing Abaxis’ operating results with historical performance and believes it provides meaningful and comparable information to management and investors to assist in their review of Abaxis’ performance relative to prior periods and its competitors.

This press release includes, and our conference call will include, statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Reform Act”), including but not limited to statements related to Abaxis’ cash position, financial resources and potential for future growth, market acceptance of new or planned product offerings, process improvements and product manufacturing quality and efficiencies in future production of our products.  Abaxis claims the protection of the safe-harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Reform Act.  These forward-looking statements are often characterized by the terms “may,” “believes,” “projects,” “expects,” “anticipates,” or words of similar import, and do not reflect historical facts.  Specific forward-looking statements contained in this press release or in Abaxis’ conference call may be affected by risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those related to the market acceptance of the company’s products and the continuing development of its products, required United States Food and Drug Administration clearance and other government approvals, risks associated with manufacturing and distributing its products on a commercial scale free of defects, risks related to the introduction of new instruments manufactured by third parties, risks associated with entering the human diagnostic market on a larger scale, risks related to the protection of the company’s intellectual property or claims of infringement of intellectual property asserted by third parties, risks related to condition of the United States economy, risks involved in carrying of inventory and other risks detailed under “Risk Factors” in Abaxis’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2009 and Abaxis’ other periodic reports filed from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.  Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements were made.  Abaxis does not undertake and specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.

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Financial Tables on Following Pages
 
4

 
ABAXIS, INC.
                       
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
                       
(In thousands, except per share data)
                       
(Unaudited)
                       
                         
   
Three Months Ended
   
Twelve Months Ended
 
   
March 31,
   
March 31,
 
   
2010
   
2009
   
2010
   
2009
 
                         
Revenues
  $ 33,665     $ 26,338     $ 124,557     $ 105,562  
Cost of revenues
    14,845       11,663       52,435       46,937  
Gross profit
    18,820       14,675       72,122       58,625  
Operating expenses:
                               
Research and development
    2,686       2,245       10,688       8,361  
Sales and marketing
    8,710       6,330       30,138       24,712  
General and administrative
    2,782       1,902       10,521       7,757  
Total operating expenses
    14,178       10,477       51,347       40,830  
Income from operations
    4,642       4,198       20,775       17,795  
Interest and other income (expense), net
    (165 )     131       630       1,271  
Income before income tax provision
    4,477       4,329       21,405       19,066  
Income tax provision
    1,837       1,745       8,382       7,053  
Net income
  $ 2,640     $ 2,584     $ 13,023     $ 12,013  
Net income per share:
                               
Basic net income per share
  $ 0.12     $ 0.12     $ 0.59     $ 0.55  
Diluted net income per share
  $ 0.12     $ 0.12     $ 0.58     $ 0.54  
                                 
Shares used in the calculation of net income per share:
                               
Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic
    22,081       21,912       22,021       21,826  
Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted
    22,725       22,302       22,606       22,324  
 
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ABAXIS, INC.
           
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
 
(Unaudited and in thousands)
 
             
   
March 31,
   
March 31,
 
   
2010
   
2009
 
Current assets:
           
Cash and cash equivalents
  $ 27,857     $ 49,237  
Short-term investments
    32,343       20,776  
Receivables, net
    23,962       21,983  
Inventories
    19,067       15,735  
Prepaid expenses
    1,340       957  
Net deferred tax asset, current
    3,773       4,676  
Total current assets
    108,342       113,364  
Long-term investments
    36,319       4,886  
Property and equipment, net
    15,544       14,798  
Intangible assets, net
    4,600       5,175  
Net deferred tax asset, non-current
    2,935       2,464  
Other assets
    76       24  
Total assets
  $ 167,816     $ 140,711  
                 
Current liabilities:
               
Accounts payable
  $ 9,404     $ 3,963  
Accrued payroll and related expenses
    5,615       3,698  
Accrued taxes
    400       34  
Other accrued liabilities
    1,256       1,116  
Deferred revenue
    1,157       1,024  
Warranty reserve
    1,183       1,714  
Total current liabilities
    19,015       11,549  
                 
Non-current liabilities:
               
Deferred rent
    163       137  
Deferred revenue
    1,359       1,550  
Warranty reserve
    160       583  
Total non-current liabilities
    1,682       2,270  
                 
Shareholders' equity:
               
Common stock
    125,050       117,846  
Retained earnings
    22,069       9,046  
Total shareholders' equity
    147,119       126,892  
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity
  $ 167,816     $ 140,711  
 
 
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ABAXIS, INC.
                                   
Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Results of Net Income to GAAP Measures
                         
(In thousands, except per share data)
                                   
(Unaudited)
                                   
                                     
   
Three Months Ended March 31, 2010
   
Three Months Ended March 31, 2009
 
   
GAAP
Results
   
Share-based
Compensation (1)
   
Non-GAAP
Results
   
GAAP
Results
   
Share-based
Compensation (2)
   
Non-GAAP
Results
 
                                     
Revenues
  $ 33,665     $ -     $ 33,665     $ 26,338     $ -     $ 26,338  
Cost of revenues
    14,845       (131 )     14,714       11,663       (44 )     11,619  
Gross profit
    18,820       131       18,951       14,675       44       14,719  
Operating expenses:
                                               
Research and development
    2,686       (260 )     2,426       2,245       (62 )     2,183  
Sales and marketing
    8,710       (371 )     8,339       6,330       (107 )     6,223  
General and administrative
    2,782       (862 )     1,920       1,902       (230 )     1,672  
Total operating expenses
    14,178       (1,493 )     12,685       10,477       (399 )     10,078  
Income from operations
    4,642       1,624       6,266       4,198       443       4,641  
Interest and other income (expense), net
    (165 )     -       (165 )     131       -       131  
Income before income tax provision
    4,477       1,624       6,101       4,329       443       4,772  
Income tax provision
    1,837       530       2,367       1,745       179       1,924  
Net income
  $ 2,640     $ 1,094     $ 3,734     $ 2,584     $ 264     $ 2,848  
Net income per share:
                                               
Basic net income per share
  $ 0.12             $ 0.17     $ 0.12             $ 0.13  
Diluted net income per share
  $ 0.12             $ 0.16     $ 0.12             $ 0.13  
                                                 
Shares used in the calculation of net income per share:
                                               
Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic
    22,081               22,081       21,912               21,912  
Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted
    22,725               22,725       22,302               22,302  
__________
                                               
(1) To eliminate share-based compensation and related income tax effect recorded in the three months ended March 31, 2010.
                 
(2) To eliminate share-based compensation and related income tax effect recorded in the three months ended March 31, 2009.
                 
 
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Year Ended March 31, 2010
   
Year Ended March 31, 2009
 
   
GAAP
Results
   
Share-based
Compensation (3)
   
Non-GAAP
Results
   
GAAP
Results
   
Share-based
Compensation (4)
   
Non-GAAP
Results
 
                                     
Revenues
  $ 124,557     $ -     $ 124,557     $ 105,562     $ -     $ 105,562  
Cost of revenues
    52,435       (374 )     52,061       46,937       (152 )     46,785  
Gross profit
    72,122       374       72,496       58,625       152       58,777  
Operating expenses:
                                               
Research and development
    10,688       (849 )     9,839       8,361       (240 )     8,121  
Sales and marketing
    30,138       (1,255 )     28,883       24,712       (508 )     24,204  
General and administrative
    10,521       (2,859 )     7,662       7,757       (843 )     6,914  
Total operating expenses
    51,347       (4,963 )     46,384       40,830       (1,591 )     39,239  
Income from operations
    20,775       5,337       26,112       17,795       1,743       19,538  
Interest and other income (expense), net
    630       -       630       1,271       -       1,271  
Income before income tax provision
    21,405       5,337       26,742       19,066       1,743       20,809  
Income tax provision
    8,382       1,741       10,123       7,053       704       7,757  
Net income
  $ 13,023     $ 3,596     $ 16,619     $ 12,013     $ 1,039     $ 13,052  
Net income per share:
                                               
Basic net income per share
  $ 0.59             $ 0.75     $ 0.55             $ 0.60  
Diluted net income per share
  $ 0.58             $ 0.74     $ 0.54             $ 0.58  
Shares used in the calculation of net income per share:
                                               
Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic
    22,021               22,021       21,826               21,826  
Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted
    22,606               22,606       22,324               22,324  
__________
                                               
(3) To eliminate share-based compensation and related income tax effect recorded in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.
                 
(4) To eliminate share-based compensation and related income tax effect recorded in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009.
                 
 
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Non-GAAP Operating Income Per Share
                       
(In thousands, except per share data)
                       
   
Three Months Ended
   
Twelve Months Ended
 
   
March 31,
   
March 31,
 
   
2010
   
2009
   
2010
   
2009
 
Shares used in the calculation of operating income per share (non-GAAP):
                   
Weighted average common shares outstanding - basic
    22,081       21,912       22,021       21,826  
Weighted average common shares outstanding - diluted
    22,725       22,302       22,606       22,324  
                                 
Non-GAAP operating income per share - basic
  $ 0.21     $ 0.19     $ 0.94     $ 0.82  
Non-GAAP operating income per share - diluted
  $ 0.20     $ 0.19     $ 0.92     $ 0.80  
                                 
                                 
Revenues by Geographic Region
                               
(In thousands)
                               
   
Three Months Ended
   
Twelve Months Ended
 
   
March 31,
   
March 31,
 
   
2010
   
2009
   
2010
   
2009
 
North America
  $ 27,599     $ 22,241     $ 101,391     $ 87,801  
International
    6,066       4,097       23,166       17,761  
Total revenues
  $ 33,665     $ 26,338     $ 124,557     $ 105,562  
                                 
                                 
Revenues by Customer Group
                               
(In thousands)
                               
   
Three Months Ended
   
Twelve Months Ended
 
   
March 31,
   
March 31,
 
   
2010
   
2009
   
2010
   
2009
 
Medical Market
  $ 6,896     $ 5,077     $ 24,176     $ 24,796  
Veterinary Market
    25,015       19,581       92,411       74,046  
Other
    1,754       1,680       7,970       6,720  
Total revenues
  $ 33,665     $ 26,338     $ 124,557     $ 105,562  
 
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