Copenhagen, 2015-10-26 13:52 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exiqon A/S (NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen: “EXQ”) today announced results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2015:
| Financial Highlights (DKK million) |
Q3 2015 |
Q3 2014 |
Q3 change |
Q3 YTD 2015 |
Q3 YTD 2014 |
Q3 YTD change |
| Revenue | 38.4 | 34.8 | 10% | 115.4 | 98.0 | 18% |
| Gross profit | 23.4 | 20.8 | 13% | 74.2 | 63.1 | 18% |
| EBITDA | 3.1 | 2.5 | 24% | 8.4 | 4.2 | 98% |
| EBIT | 1.3 | 0.8 | 59% | 3.1 | -0.2 | N/A |
| Net profit | 0.6 | 1.3 | -53% | 0.7 | 0.9 | -23% |
| Cash flows from operating activities | 6.1 | 0.0 | N/A | 10.7 | -1.0 | N/A |
Summarized financial numbers are compared to full year outlook on p.3.
Revenue highlights
-
Exiqon successfully continues to execute its growth strategy towards becoming the leading provider of flexible solutions for RNA analysis by leveraging existing capabilities and capture new markets. RNA services and product sales (excluding OEM) are the key drivers for Exiqon’s growth. In the third quarter products and services sales increased 17% to DKK 30.7 million (DKK 26.3 million):
- Products sales offer high potential for growth as Exiqon increasingly targets new sizable markets for RNA sequencing and RNA functional analysis. At the end of the second quarter, Exiqon launched a new advanced qPCR product portfolio, ExiLERATE, for real-time PCR detection of mRNA and lncRNA as part of the XploreRNA initiative. In the third quarter, product sales increased 29% to DKK 24.7 million (DKK 19.1 million).
- Services pave the way for the development of new proprietary products. The Company’s current capacity for RNA sequencing services is already fully booked until year-end. In the third quarter, however, sales decreased 17% to DKK 5.9 million (DKK 7.1 million) due to a seasonal short fall in qPCR service
- Other income include license income and grant funding of Exiqon’s development of novel diagnostics within prostate and colorectal cancers that hold promise of transforming current healthcare practices and improve patient care. In the third quarter other income decreased 12% to DKK 4.5 million (DKK 5.1 million).
Operational highlights
- Exiqon today provides an update on the diagnostic programs that were recently exclusively licensed from Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Molecular Medicine (MOMA);
- The www.xploreRNA.com sales channel will be commercially marketed beginning next month following a significant update and new functionality.
In a comment CEO Lars Kongsbak said: “I am extremely pleased with the 29% strong growth in our product sales this quarter following recent product launches. We are also excited about beginning marketing of the www.xploreRNA.com platform next month, which will help position our products for validation of NGS data. Feedback from our first customers has been overwhelmingly positive and we have high expectations to this innovative new sales channel targeting RNA sequencing customers.“
Exiqon maintains its full year guidance of revenues of DKK 155-160 million and EBITDA around DKK 10 million based on an average USD/DKK exchange rate of DKK 6.50.
