VWR Beats Q2 Views

reported better-than-expected earnings for the second quarter on Wednesday. The Radnor, Pennsylvania-based company posted quarterly net income of $18.3 million, or $0.14 per share, compared to $4 million, or $40 per share, in the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, the company's earnings surged 42 percent to $0.34 per share. Its revenue declined 1.9 percent year-over-year to $1.08 billion, while revenue on an organic basis gained 4.7 percent. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.33 per share on revenue of $1.07 billion. Americas revenue gained 6 percent to $651.8 million in the quarter, while EMEA-APAC revenue declined 12 percent to $429.4 million. Its operating income climbed 25.2 percent to $77.6 million. Capital expenditures shrank to $7.0 million in the second quarter, from $8.5 million in the previous year. As of June 30, 2015, VWR had net debt of $1.94 billion, versus net debt of $1.96 billion as of March 31, 2015. Manuel Brocke-Benz, President and Chief Executive Officer of VWR, said, "Our second quarter 2015 financial results demonstrate the multiple levers that VWR has available to drive double digit earnings growth. Both the Americas and EMEA-APAC segments posted organic revenue growth rates above our long-term expectations of 3 to 4%...The strength of our performance, with solid organic revenue growth, operating income margin expansion, and robust cash flow generation underscore the earnings power inherent in our business model and our capacity to drive shareholder value." VWR reaffirmed its full-year earnings forecast of $1.42 to $1.50 per share, and revenue of $4.24 billion to $4.31 billion. VWR shares fell 0.56 percent to close at $26.51 yesterday.