Sartorius, an international laboratory and pharmaceutical equipment provider, successfully closed the first nine months of 2012, with substantial gains in order intake, sales revenue and earnings. The Bioprocess Solutions Division that primarily specializes in single-use products for pharmaceutical drug manufacture performed especially well. In addition, initial consolidation of the Biohit Liquid Handling business substantially boosted growth for the Laboratory Products & Services Division. Based on the company's strong business development in the first nine months, management slightly lifted its full-year guidance for its earnings yet again. Assuming that the currency exchange rates essentially remain favorable as in the first nine months of 2012, Sartorius expects adjusted earnings (operating EBITA) to increase by about 18% (former guidance: about 15%). Full-year guidance for sales remains unchanged: sales revenue is projected to grow by about 11% in constant currencies.

Dynamic Growth of Sales Revenue and Order Intake

In the first nine months of 2012, Sartorius increased its sales revenue year over year by 18.1%, or 13.8% in constant currencies, to €639.4 million. The Biohit Liquid Handling business acquired at the end of 2011 added approximately six percentage points to this gain. In the same period, order intake rose 15.8%, or 11.6% in constant currencies, to €636.6 million.

The Bioprocess Solutions Division, which accounts for more than half of consolidated revenue, continued on the growth track of the past quarters: it posted strong organic sales growth of €360.3 million, up 19.0%, or 14.4% in constant currencies. Order intake for the division also rose significantly by 13.6%, or 9.2% in constant currencies, to 356.6 million. Demand was high, especially for single-use products for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals, such as specialty filters and aseptic bags and tanks.

The Lab Products & Services Division, which provides premium lab instruments and consumables, saw its nine-month sales revenue soar 22.5%, or 17.9% in constant currencies, to €202.5 million, and reported a jump in order intake of 27.4%, or 22.4% in constant currencies, to €203.9 million. Initial consolidation of the Biohit Liquid Handling business acquired at the end of 2011 contributed around 19 percentage points, based on constant currencies, to growth for this division.

The smallest Group division, Industrial Weighing, showed stable development, as projected. Its sales revenue improved against the moderate year-earlier revenue base by 4.5%, or 2.2% in constant currencies, to €76.7 million, while its order intake edged up 0.6% from €75.6 million a year ago to €76.1 million and thus remained approximately at the previous year's level (currency-adjusted -1.7%).

Regional analysis shows that North America posted the strongest growth in sales revenue, which was considerably up 25.3%. In Asia, business expanded by 11.7%; Europe saw a gain of 10.2% (all regional figures in constant currencies).

Significant Increase in Earnings

Based on its dynamic sales performance, Sartorius further increased its earnings year over year. The Group's operating earnings1) surged 22.7% from €81.5 million to €100.0 million; the respective margin for the Group climbed from 15.0% to 15.6%.

In the same period, the Bioprocess Solutions Division boosted its earnings 26.1% to €66.8 million; its margin rose from 17.5% to 18.5%. The Lab Products & Services Division considerably lifted its operating earnings by 16.2% to €26.4 million from €22.8 million in the previous period, with a margin of 13.1%, relative to 13.8% a year earlier. The Industrial Weighing Division achieved operating earnings of €6.8 million ; its margin was 8.9% relative to 7.9% a year ago.

Including extraordinary items of €-9.7 million (9-mo. 2011 period: -7.7 million), Group EBITA soared year on year by 22.5% from 73.7 million to €90.3 million. These extraordinary expenses primarily were related to integration of the Biohit Liquid Handling business, transfer of single-use bag manufacture from California, USA, to Puerto Rico, and to various Group projects. The corresponding EBITA margin was 14.1% (9-mo. 2011 period: 13.6%). The Group's relevant net profit2) surged 22.1% from 38.3 million euros a year ago to €46.8 million. The Group's respective earnings per share are at €2.75, up from 2.25 in the previous period.

Full-year Earnings Guidance Raised

Based on the company's strong business performance in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, management slightly raised its earnings guidance for the full year of 2012 yet again. Assuming that currency exchange rates remain favorable as in the first nine months of 2012, Sartorius now anticipates that operating EBITA will increase by about 18% (former guidance: about 15%), with its guidance for sales growth remaining unchanged at a projected rate of about 11% in constant currencies.

In view of the three divisions, Sartorius anticipates that currency-adjusted sales revenue for Bioprocess Solutions will grow approximately 11% (former guidance: about 10%). The division's operating EBITA is projected to increase by about 20% (former guidance: approximately 15%).

The company confirms its sales and earnings forecasts for the Lab Products & Services Division and the Industrial Weighing Division. According to the outlook for Lab Products & Services, the company continues to project that sales revenue will expand by approximately 16% to 20%, primarily due to initial consolidation of the Biohit Liquid Handling business. The division's operating EBITA is expected to increase by approximately 20% to 24%.

For the Industrial Weighing Division, the company expects both the currency-adjusted sales revenue and the operating EBITA of this division to show stable development relative to the year-earlier period.