UPDATE: VWR Tops Q4 Expectations

reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter on Wednesday. The Radnor, Pennsylvania-based company posted quarterly net income of $48.8 million, or $0.38 per share. Excluding one-time items, the company's adjusted earnings surged 16.2% to $0.43 per share. Its revenue gained 4% to $1.1 billion, while revenue climbed 5.9% on an organic basis. However, analysts were expecting earnings of $0.37 per share on revenue of $1.08 billion. Revenue in Americas segment surged 8.9% y/y to $611.4 million in the fourth quarter, while revenue in EMEA-APAC segment dropped 1.5% to $490.2 million. Adjusted EBITDA gained 0.9% to $119.5 million in the quarter. As of December 31, 2014, the company had total debt of $2.11 billion and cash and cash equivalents of $120.5 million. "Our fourth quarter saw acceleration in our growth trend in the Americas segment, with 7.2% organic revenue growth, fueled by strong sales to Biopharma customers and robust private label product sales. In addition, our EMEA-APAC segment continued its track-record, delivering yet another quarter of above-market organic growth," said Manuel Brocke-Benz, President and Chief Executive Officer of VWR. For the full year, VWR projects adjusted earnings of $1.42 to $1.50 per share, on revenue of $4.24 billion to $4.31 billion. VWR shares fell 0.76% to close at $24.80 yesterday.