Bruker says earnings will beat expectations

Bruker BioSciences Corp. of Billerica, which makes X-ray technology and molecular analysis tools, said today its fourth-quarter earnings will beat Wall Street expectations, and forecast "modest" improvement in 2007 results.

The company expects to post quarterly income of 7 cents to 9 cents per share on revenue of $130 million to $135 million, up from pooled earnings of 5 cents on revenue of $106.8 million a year ago.

Pooled profit includes results of Bruker Optics Inc., which the company acquired on July 1, 2006. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial are looking for profit of 5 cents per share, on average.

For the full year, Bruker expects profits of 15 to 17 cents per share on revenue of $430 million to $435 million, up from 10 cents per share on sales of $372.3 million in 2005. The latest period includes charges of $5 million, or 5 cents per share, on the Bruker Optics buy and gains of $2 million, or 2 cents per share, on derivative financial instruments.

Wall Street is forecasting sales of $409.8 million.

Looking ahead, Bruker said 2007 first-quarter operating profit and revenue will improve from last year's $4.9 million on sales of $94.9 million, and bottom-line results will be up "modestly" from last year's 3 cents per share due to investments in three acquisitions in the second half of 2006. (AP)