Immucor 1Q profit rises 7 percent on sales boost

Immucor fiscal 1st-quarter profit climbs as sales grow across all product categories

• On 5:10 pm EDT, Thursday October 1, 2009

NORCROSS, Ga. (AP) -- Immucor Inc., which makes products used in blood transfusions, said its profit grew 7 percent in the fiscal first quarter as sales in all of its product groups improved.

The company said profit increased to $21.3 million, or 30 cents per share, from $20 million, or 28 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Revenue grew 14 percent to $83.1 million from $73.2 million.

The results beat the average estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who had expected earnings of 25 cents per share and $79.5 million in revenue.

The latest quarter included three months of revenue from BioArray Solutions. Immucor bought BioArray on Aug. 4, 2008, meaning the year-ago quarter included only a few weeks of BioArray revenue.

In the three months ended Aug. 31, Immucor said traditional reagent revenue grew 11 percent to $54.7 million from $49.3 million. Capture reagent sales improved 21 percent to $18.3 million from $15.2 million, and instrument sales rose 8 percent, to $9.3 million from $8.6 million.

The company backed its forecasts for the year ending May 31. Immucor said it expects a profit of $1.10 to $1.17 per share, including about 4 cents per share in costs related to quality improvements. The company expects $322 million to $332 million in revenue.

On average, analysts are looking for a profit of $1.11 per share and $327.4 million in revenue. In aftermarket trading, Immucor stock rose 98 cents, or 5.6 percent, to $18.58 having closed earlier at $17.60.

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