UPDATE 1-Charles River says NHP supply snarls to no longer persist near-term
(Rewrites throughout with comments on NHP supply from the conference call)
Aug 9 (Reuters) - Charles River Laboratories International beat Wall Street estimates for second-quarter results on Wednesday, as the strong demand for contract researcher's tools and services cushioned the impact of suspended non-human primates' (NHP) shipment.
Its shares rose nearly 5% after the company in a conference call said it was conducting more NHP studies outside of the United States and supply constraints would no longer impact its business in the fourth quarter and next year.
The statement comes after Charles River in February suspended the shipment of NHPs from Cambodia as the Department of Justice and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigated the company over smuggling of wild long-tailed macaques to the United States.
The Massachusetts-based company tightened its full-year profit forecast to the range of $10.30 to $10.90 per share, compared with $9.90 to $10.90 previously expected.
It also projects the annual revenue growth to range between 2.5% and 4.5%, lifting the lower end of its prior forecast range of 2% to 4.5%.
However, the company said it was closely monitoring demand trends from its biotech clients, echoing concerns of a weak market for bioprocessing services and funding crunch, raised by larger rivals in the drug discovery business, such as Thermo Fisher and Danaher.
Charles River's second-quarter revenue from the discovery and safety assessment segment rose 12.1%, while that from the research model and services unit increased 12.6% when compared with a year earlier, partially driven by fulfillment of existing backlog.
Its total quarterly revenue was up 8.9% to $1.06 billion, topping estimates of $1.05 billion, according to Refinitiv.
Excluding items, the company earned $2.69 per share in the quarter ended July 1, beating analysts' average estimate of $2.64 per share.
(Reporting by Vaibhav Sadhamta; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)
