Thermo's profit dips

October 25, 2006 08:42 AM E-mail| |Comments ()| Text size – +

Thermo Electron Corp., a maker of electronic measurement equipment, laboratory gear and other scientific instruments, said today that third-quarter earnings fell 18 percent from a year-ago period boosted by discontinued operations, but adjusted profit beat estimates and the company raised guidance for the full year.

Net income dipped to $48.8 million, or 30 cents per share, from $57.7 million, or 35 cents per share, a year ago. The latest quarter includes 3 cents per share of stock option expense compared with last year's gain of 10 cents from discontinued operations.

Adjusted earnings per share grew 16 percent to 44 cents per share, including stock option costs.

Revenue gained 7 percent to $725 million from $679.4 million last year.

"New products sparked growth across our business segments," said Marijn E. Dekkers, president and chief executive officer. "In Life and Laboratory Sciences, demand for our leading mass spectrometry technologies for proteomics and small molecule research remained very strong and we also saw increased sales of our iCAP elemental analysis systems used in both research and industrial applications, as well as our reagents and automation systems for clinical laboratories."

The company, based in Waltham, said growth in measurement and control operations continued to be led by strong demand for online systems that optimize production of commodity materials.

Thermo Electron's pending merger with Fisher Scientific was recently cleared by the Federal Trade Commission, with the agreement that TMO sell Fisher's $17 million Genevac business. The last step in completing the merger is to obtain clearance from the European Commission. The deal is expected to close Nov. 9.

Looking ahead, Thermo Electron raised fiscal 2006 adjusted earnings guidance to a range of $1.74 to $1.77 per share, from previous estimates of $1.68 to $1.73, including 10 cents per share of stock option expense. The company also now forecasts increased revenue of $2.88 to $2.90 billion in 2006, versus the $2.81 to $2.86 billion originally estimated. (AP)