Alere Inc. ALR reported adjusted earnings of 49 cents per share in the second quarter of 2015, which fell short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 53 cents.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) increased nearly 14% on a year-over-year basis, on the back of declining revenues.
Quarter Details
Adjusted net revenues fell 2.8% on a year-over-year basis to $629.4 million, but managed to beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $625 million. The downside was primarily due to unfavorable foreign exchange. It is to be noted that the second quarter is generally the weakest for Alere due to seasonality issues.
Organic growth in the second quarter of 2015 was 3.4%. Geographically, growth in Africa was nearly 14% on a year-over-year basis. Growth was also observed in Latin America (up 10%), Asia Pacific (up 9%) and North America (up 2%). However, the growth trajectory in Europe was not impressive, since revenues therein fell 2% in the reported quarter.
Revenues from the Cardiometabolic Disease segment increased 2% to $214 million, which included a $9 million increase in patient self-testing, enabled diabetes as well as strong contribution from global sales of Triage, cholesterol and Epoc products.
Infectious disease business revenues increased a modest 1% on a year-over-year basis to $177 million, on the back of improved sales across the whole portfolio (including $9 million in global flu sales).
Strong global HIV sales increased 17% on a year-over-year basis as Alere’s Determine and Determine Combo products continued to gain market traction. Growth in portfolio such as Dengue (up 36%), C. difficile (up 13%), viral hepatitis (up 10%), and malaria (up 5%) were key growth drivers as well.
Revenues from Alere’s Toxicology business declined 7% to $157 million, primarily on the back of weak performance from the pain management sub-segment. Excluding pain management, core Toxicology revenues grew 3% with growth in both Reagents business (up 10%) and Employer Services business (up 9%).
Adjusted gross margin expanded 50 basis points (bps) to 46.7% in the second quarter. Increase in manufacturing efficiencies and gross margin expansion in Africa and other emerging markets were partially offset by foreign exchange headwinds and an unfavorable product mix.
Adjusted research and development (R&D) expenses, as percentage of net revenues, contracted 90 bps to 4.4%. Adjusted selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses contracted 90 bps on a year-over-year basis to 27.4%. These contractions reflected the benefit of management’s cost curtailment initiatives.
Adjusted operating margin expanded 200 bps to 17.2%, primarily on the back of lower operating expenses.
Guidance
For full-year 2015, Alere expects net revenue in the range of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion. Adjusted EPS is expected in the band of $2.40–$2.50.
Our Take
In our opinion, the lower R&D and SG&A expenditure suggests that the company’s cost control plans are working well. The continuing divestment of non-core assets will not only boost profitability but will also help Alere focus more on developing its core operations.
Alere continues to focus on international markets with strong potential, which is an key upside. We are also impressed with the company’s rapidly expanding product portfolio. Alere recently received CLIA waiver from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Alere i Strep A test. We feel new and competent products will help Alere gain better market traction, going forward.
Meanwhile, the company inked an agreement to sell its BBI business to U.K.-based Exponent Private Equity for about $164 million. Alere plans to use a major portion of the sale proceeds to reduce its debt and improve its balance sheet.
Alere also announced the acquisition of US Diagnostics (USD) for $60 million in cash. USD provides drug testing devices and currently distributes Alere Toxicology products.
The acquisition will help Alere expand its customer base.
Management expects the abovementioned transactions to be dilutive to full-year 2015 EPS by about zero to five cents.
Moreover, Alere faces significant vulnerability in its pain management business. This is a major downside, especially given that it is a high margin business. An unfavorable foreign exchange rate also prevails as a major headwind for the company.
Stocks to Consider
Currently, Alere has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the medical sector are Agios Pharmaceuticals AGIO, NuVasive NUVA and Abaxis ABAX. All the three stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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