REFILE-Waters Corp cuts forecast on pharma weakness in China
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Aug 2 (Reuters) - Waters Corp on Wednesday cut its annual profit forecast for the second time in a year as demand for its medical lab equipment and software products weakened due to funding crisis among the biopharma clients, especially in China.
The company now expects full-year adjusted profit per share in the range of $12.20 to $12.30, compared with prior forecast of $12.55 to $12.75.
With China sales declining high teens in the reported quarter, the lab equipment supplier expects the pharma weakness to continue in the country for the second half.
On reported basis, annual revenue growth is expected between 3% and 4%, Waters said, cutting its forecast from 5.5% to 7.5%.
The company, however, topped second-quarter profit estimates on strength in industrial and academic/government segments.
Its adjusted profit per share came in at $2.80 for the quarter through June, beating estimates of $2.59, as per Refinitiv IBES data.
The Milford, Massachusetts-based company provides lab equipment, supplies and technology for scientists across the world with majority of revenue coming in from biopharma clients using its tools for research and drug development.
Wyatt Technologies, the company it acquired in $1.4 billion deal, contributed 2% to Waters Corp's total sales, which rose 4% to $740.6 million. Analysts had expected $734.4 million.
The results follow warnings from larger rivals in medical equipment business such as Thermo Fisher and Danaher , which expect soft demand for their bioprocessing tools and services this year.
(Reporting by Vaibhav Sadhamta; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)
