On October 25, 2017 Varian (NYSE:VAR), the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating and managing cancer, reported its fourth-quarter and full-year fiscal 2017 results (Press release, Varian Medical Systems, OCT 25, 2017, View Source [SID1234521176]). All fourth-quarter comparisons in this announcement are year-over-year unless noted otherwise.
Summary
($ in millions except EPS) Q4 2017 Q4 2016 FY 2017 FY 2016
Revenues (from Continuing Operations) $ 739.0 $ 747.2 $ 2,668.2 $ 2,621.1
Growth Reported (1 )% 2 %
Growth Constant Currency (2 )% 2 %
Gross Margin 42.1 % 42.6 % 43.3 % 42.5 %
GAAP Net Earnings (1) $ 82.7 $ 94.3 $ 257.1 $ 325.3
GAAP Net Earnings per Diluted Share (1) $ 0.89 $ 1.00 $ 2.75 $ 3.39
Net Cash Provided by Operating Activities $ 129.6 $ 151.9 $ 399.1 $ 356.3
Non-GAAP Net Earnings (1) (2) $ 100.6 $ 97.7 $ 335.1 $ 354.9
Non-GAAP Net Earnings per Diluted Share (1) (2) $ 1.09 $ 1.03 $ 3.60 $ 3.70
(1) GAAP Net Earnings and Earnings Per Diluted Share and Non-GAAP Net Earnings and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share refer only to continuing operations. GAAP and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share, for the quarter and fiscal year ended September 29, 2017, were calculated based on diluted shares of 92.6 million and 93.2 million, respectively. For the quarter and fiscal year ended September 30, 2016, the number of diluted shares was 94.5 million and 96.0 million, respectively.
(2) Non-GAAP Net Earnings and Non-GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share are defined as GAAP Net Earnings and GAAP Earnings Per Diluted Share adjusted to exclude the amortization of intangible assets, acquisition-related expenses and benefits, restructuring and impairment charges and significant litigation charges or benefits and legal costs.
"We finished a transformative year for the company with a solid quarter highlighted by robust gross order growth," said Dow Wilson, CEO of Varian. "During the year, we extended our industry leadership with successful launches of the Halcyon and HyperArc treatment platforms, grew our global footprint and continued to build capabilities to grow beyond our core market. We also booked two more proton orders in the quarter, bringing our total for the year to six."
The company ended the quarter with $716 million in cash and cash equivalents and $350 million of debt. Net cash provided by operating activities was healthy at $130 million in the fiscal fourth quarter and $399 million for the fiscal year, supported by improved cash collections. During the fiscal fourth quarter, the company invested $25 million to repurchase 250,000 shares of common stock.
Gary Bischoping, Varian’s chief financial officer, added, "While the quarter’s profitability results came in short of our expectations, I’m pleased with our team’s ongoing operational and financial discipline. We have more work to do, but we made solid progress toward our long-term objectives. Our orders growth, improving gross margin rate this past year, and continued working capital efficiencies has me looking forward to our next fiscal year."
Oncology Systems Segment
In the fiscal fourth quarter, Oncology revenues for the segment totaled $686 million, up 1 percent in dollars and in constant currency. For the full year, revenues were up 1 percent at $2.5 billion. Gross orders were $964 million, up 7 percent in dollars and in constant currency. Gross orders in the Americas increased 1 percent in dollars and 2 percent in constant currency, with North America growing 8 percent in dollars. In EMEA, gross orders rose 32 percent in dollars and 29 percent in constant currency, to $321 million driven by robust growth in France, Germany, Poland and India; in APAC gross orders declined 10 percent in dollars and 9 percent in constant currency where strong growth across a majority of the region was offset by significant declines in Japan.
Proton Therapy Segment
Revenues in the fourth quarter were down 23 percent at $52 million. For the full year, revenues were up 12 percent at $182 million. In the quarter, the company booked orders totaling $74 million, including orders for ProBeam Compact projects in China and India. For the full fiscal year, proton therapy orders totaled $229 million, more than double the previous year.
Outlook for Full Fiscal Year 2018
We expect the following for fiscal year 2018:
· Revenues to grow by 2 to 4 percent
· Non-GAAP operating earnings to range between 18 and 19 percent of revenue
· Non-GAAP net earnings per diluted share from continuing operations to be in the $4.20 to $4.32 range
· Cash Flow from Operations to be between $475 million and $550 million
We have assumed no change to share count year over year and a tax rate of 23 percent.
Please refer to "Discussion of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" below for a description of items excluded from expected non-GAAP earnings.
Investor Conference Call
Varian Medical Systems is scheduled to conduct its fourth quarter fiscal year 2017 conference call at
2 p.m. PT today. To hear a live webcast or replay of the call, visit the investor relations page on our company’s web site at www.varian.com/investor where it will be archived for a year. To access the call via telephone, dial 1-877-869-3847 from inside the U.S. or 1-201-689-8261 from outside the U.S. The replay can be accessed by dialing 1-877-660-6853 from inside the U.S. or 1-201-612-7415 from outside the U.S. and entering confirmation code 13669524. The telephone replay will be available through 5 p.m. PT, Friday, October 27, 2017.
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