Sigma-Aldrich Reports Record Full-Year 2014 Sales

Sigma-Aldrich (NASDAQ – SIAL) Reports Record Full-Year 2014 Sales Of $2.79 Billion And Record Adjusted Diluted EPS Of $4.37. Reports Q4 2014 Adjusted Diluted EPS Of $1.14 And Organic Sales Growth Of 7%. Declares $0.23 Per Share Quarterly Dividend.

Q4 2014 Results (all percentage changes are against the same period in 2013)

• Reported sales increased 3% to $705 million. Organic sales growth was 7% with changes in foreign currency exchange rates reducing sales by 5%. Net impact from recent acquisitions and divestitures increased sales by 1%.
• By business unit, organic sales growth was 4% in Research, 8% in Applied and 14% in SAFC Commercial.
• Reported diluted EPS was $1.11 compared to $1.08 in Q4 2013. Excluding costs related to restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and certain 2013 tax benefits, adjusted diluted EPS was $1.14 compared to $1.02 in Q4 2013, an increase of 12%. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates compared to the same period last year reduced adjusted EPS by $0.04.
• On February 10, 2015 the Company’s Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.23 per share to be paid on March 13, 2015, to shareholders of record on February 27, 2015.

Full-Year 2014 Results (all percentage changes are against the full-year 2013)

• Reported sales increased 3% to $2.79 billion. Organic sales growth was 4% with changes in foreign currency exchange rates reducing sales by 1%.
• By business unit, organic sales growth was 1% in Research, 8% in Applied and 6% in SAFC Commercial.
• Reported diluted EPS was $4.17 compared to $4.06 in 2013. Excluding costs related to restructuring, mergers and acquisitions and certain 2013 tax benefits, adjusted diluted EPS was a record-high $4.37 compared to $4.12 in 2013, an increase of 6%. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates compared to last year reduced adjusted EPS by $0.09. Excluding this impact, 2014 adjusted diluted EPS would have increased by 8%.

CEO’s STATEMENT:  

Commenting on 2014 performance, President and CEO Rakesh Sachdev said, “I am proud of all of our employees.  In what has become a very eventful and pivotal year in the history of our Company, their hard work and dedication to our customers resulted in another record-breaking year of sales and earnings.  I am especially pleased to report that annual adjusted EPS increased for the 40th consecutive year.

“Our three business units, Research, Applied and SAFC, continue to provide market-leading products and services and each business has elevated its customer-centric strategies by responding to the needs of their global, diverse customer bases.  This resulted in solid organic sales growth for the year with the fourth quarter of 2014 at 7%, the highest quarterly performance in almost four years.

“In the Research business unit, we had a good finish to 2014 with growth contribution from all segments and geographies.  Research customers appreciate the high quality and availability of our wide range of products as well as the ease of ordering through our industry-leading e-Commerce platform.  In the fourth quarter, we saw improved U.S. academic spending and had another double-digit sales growth performance in China as well as a return to double-digit growth in India.

“In the Applied business unit, we had steady performance throughout 2014 with contributions from all segments and all geographies.  In the fourth quarter of 2014, the Diagnostics & Testing segment grew double digits, again led by demand for our analytical standards.  Our focus on providing high quality, innovative products to customers in regulated diagnostics and testing markets continues to open opportunities with new customers and generate double-digit growth with our strategic accounts.

“In the SAFC business unit, we had a strong finish to the year with 14% organic sales growth in the fourth quarter led by double-digit growth of our Life Science Products.  Biopharma and Pharma products contributed to growth in this segment, led by new zinc-finger nuclease licensing agreements and PharmaGrade product sales.  The Life Science Services segment had another solid quarter of growth, led by demand in service sales for gene therapy projects.  We are now reaping the benefits of our successful integration of BioReliance into SAFC.  The top-line synergies this integration has created has led to six consecutive double-digit sales growth quarters for Life Science Services.

“The Global Supply Chain initiatives we rolled out at the beginning of the year have had a meaningful impact on our results.  These initiatives, coupled with the ongoing cost reduction activities throughout the entire organization, helped drive a 70 basis point improvement in full-year 2014 gross margin despite a 20 basis point negative impact from changes in foreign currency exchange rates.

“In January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, we were named by Corporate Knights as the 38th Most Sustainable Corporation in the World.  This is the second consecutive year for Sigma-Aldrich to be named to this prestigious list, and we are proud to be one of only 20 U.S. companies to receive this distinction in the 2015 Global 100 list.  This is a testament to our sustainability efforts in the communities where we live and work.”

Mr. Sachdev continued, “Looking to the future, we are excited about the opportunity to join forces with Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany.  We continue to expect the transaction to close mid-2015, subject to receipt of certain antitrust and government approvals and other customary closing conditions.  We believe that our eighty-year mission of enabling science to improve the quality of life by providing one of the broadest portfolios of high quality products in the industry will significantly benefit the combination of the two companies, our employees and, most importantly, our large world-wide customer base.”

You can see a more detailed report on Sigma-Aldrich’s website.

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