Neogen reports Q3 adjusted EPS 12c vs. 12c last year

Reports Q3 revenue $228.8M vs. $218.3M last year. “The third quarter saw us complete a number of milestone achievements related to the integration of the former 3M Food Safety business,” said John Adent, Neogen’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We completed the relocation of the pathogen detection product line and the initial phases of the relocation of the sample handling product line, which we expect to complete in the fourth quarter. We also completed the exit of the transition service agreements covering back-office functions and distribution. Petrifilm manufacturing will ultimately transition into our new production facility in Lansing, the construction and outfitting of which remains on track.” Adent continued, “The progress we’ve made on integration, particularly as it relates to the exit of the transition distribution agreement and the resulting increase in volumes in our primary distribution facility, has created operational inefficiencies that we continue to manage through. We believe these inefficiencies are temporary, but they are currently affecting our order fulfilment rates and preventing us from meeting the end-market demand on a consistent basis, and we are updating our full-year outlook to reflect the lower revenue we now expect to generate. We are encouraged, however, by the continuation of positive trends in our end markets. In Food Safety, sequential improvement in unit production volumes has generally continued across the industry, while channel inventories in Animal Safety have normalized after several quarters of destocking. Our primary focus now is improving our order fulfillment rates to meet the needs of our customers in this improving end-market environment. When we made the strategic decision to expand our scale and solidify our position as the global leader in food safety by merging with the former 3M Food Safety Division, we recognized there would be challenges along the way during the associated carve-out and integration of the business. While we are not pleased with the present level of inefficiencies, we are committed to rectifying them and ultimately realizing the long-term benefits of this combination.”