During its fiscal fourth quarter, Michigan-based Neogen ($NEOG)--a global supplier of animal safety and genomics products--suffered from negative currency fluctuations in Brazil, Mexico, and across Europe. But strong demand still pushed the company's sales up 17% year-over-year to a record $78.6 million. Its earnings jumped 25% to $9.4 million, or $0.25 per share, which was also a record.
The results beat analysts' estimates by a penny and investors applauded, sending Neogen's shares up nearly 20% to $58.30 on Tuesday, after the earnings release.
For the full year, Neogen's revenues grew 14% over the previous year to $283.1 million, and its net income was up 19% to $33.5 million, or $0.90 per share. Both the quarterly and yearly results set new all-time highs for the 33-year-old company, according to the release.
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| Neogen CEO James Herbert |
Among the highlights for the year was Neogen's veterinary genomic products and services unit, which saw a 27% sales increase. The company attributed the improvement to growing acceptance of its new poultry products, particularly in Europe, as well as recent moves to larger and more advanced manufacturing facilities. In March, after the company's previous earnings release, executives told analysts during a conference call that one product that especially benefited from moving to a more advanced facility was GeneSeek, its Nebraska-based genomics lab that screens cattle for 150,000 genetic variations linked to highly desirable traits.
During fiscal 2015, the company also enjoyed a 23% increase in sales of its small-animal supplements, driven largely by its thyroid hormone replacement product for dogs, according to the earnings release.
"In our fourth quarter, we exceeded our goal of producing double-digit organic growth for both our Food and Animal Safety segments," said James Herbert, Neogen's CEO, in the release. He predicted that the company would continue to prove that it is "uniquely positioned to grow and prosper."
- here's the earnings release