BioLife Solutions Inc (BLFS)

[techisbest]

BioLife Solutions Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018 Financial Results
PR Newswire
4:05 PM ET
BioLife Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLFS) ("BioLife"), the leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary cell and tissue hypothermic storage and cryopreservation freeze media, today reported financial results and operational highlights for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2018.

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Revenue from biopreservation media product sales for the fourth quarter of 2018 reached a new record of $5.5 million, an increase of 74% compared with the fourth quarter of 2017. Revenue for the full year 2018 was $19.7 m illion, an increase of 79% over 2017. Revenue growth was primarily driven by sales of CryoStor(R) biopreservation media products to the high-growth regenerative medicine segment and BioLife's worldwide distributor network.

Mike Rice, BioLife President & CEO, commented, "2018 was a banner year for BioLife on several fronts, with record revenue of nearly $20 million, our first full year of profitability, the addition of 84 new direct cell and gene therapy customers, and 57 new FDA master file cross references for the use of CryoStor and HypoThermosol in customer clinical trials. We expect to deliver another strong performance in 2019, driven by demand for our biopreservation media products and our newly acquired Astero automated thawing technologies."

2018 Market Segment & Channel Highlights

Regenerative Medicine (cell therapy, tissue engineering, stem cell transplant)

-- Product revenue: $11.0 million; 56% of total revenue representing a 108% increase over 2017.

-- Shipped first-time orders to 84 new direct cell or g ene therapy customers.

-- Processed 57 FDA master file cross reference letters supporting our products in planned cell or gene therapy clinical trials. This is up from 27 in 2016 and 47 in 2017.

Distributors

-- Product revenue: $6.4 million; 33% of total revenue with 99% growth over 2017.

-- Key worldwide distributors: STEMCELL Technologies, MilliporeSigma, Thermo Fisher and VWR.

-- Provided scientific and technical support to an increasing number of distributor customers in the cell and gene therapy market segment, specifically in China.

Financial Highlights for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2018

REVENUE

-- Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2018 increased to $5.5 million compared with $3.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2018, a year-over-year gain of 74%.

-- Total revenue for the year 2018 increased to $19.7 million compared with $11.0 million for the year 2017, a year-over-year gain of 79%.

GROSS MARGIN

-- Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2018 was 69% compared with 59% in the fourth quarter of 2017.

-- Gross margin for the year 2018 was 69% compared with 61% for the year 2017.

OPERATING INCOME/LOSS

-- Operating income for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $1.0 million, compared with an operating loss of $218,000 for the fourth quarter of 2017.

-- Operating income for the year 2018 was $3.7 million, compared with an operating loss of $1.1 million for the year 2017.

NET INCOME/LOSS ATTRIBUTABLE TO COMMON STOCKHOLDERS

-- Net income attributable to common stockholders for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $833,000, compared with a net loss of $664,000 for the fourth quarter of 2017.

-- Net income attributable to common stockholders for the year 2018 was $2.9 million, compared with a net loss of $2.7 million for the year 2017.

EARNINGS/LOSS PER SHARE

-- Earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2018 were $0.04 on a fully diluted basis compared with a loss per share of ($0.05) per share for the fourth quarter of 2017.

-- Earni ngs per share for the year 2018 were $0.14 on a fully diluted basis compared with a loss per share of ($0.21) for the year 2017.

EBITDA

-- EBITDA, a non-GAAP financial measure, for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $828,000 compared with a negative $478,000 for the fourth quarter of 2017. Adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2018 was $1.5 million compared with $132,000 for the fourth quarter of 2017.

-- EBITDA for the year 2018 was $3.3 million compared with a negative $1.8 million for 2017. Adjusted EBITDA for the year 2018 was $5.5 million compared with $444,000 for the year 2017.

CASH

-- Our cash and cash equivalents at December 31, 2018 were $30.7 million compared with $6.7 million at December 31, 2017. We believe our current cash resources, combined with continued expected cash flow from operations is more than adequate to fund the upfront and contingent payments related to the acquisition of Astero.

2019 Financial Guidance

Our financial guidance for the full year 2019 is based on expectations for our existing business and includes the expected impact of the acquisition of Astero beginning in the second quarter of 2019.

-- Total revenue is expected to be in the range of $27 million to $30 million, reflecting overall year-over-year revenue growth of 37% to 52%.

-- Gross margin is expected in the range of 69% to 70%.

-- Operating expenses is expected in the range of $15.5 million to $16.5 million.

-- Expectation for full-year operating profit, net income and EBITDA.

Conference Call & Webcast

The Company will host a conference call and live webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET this afternoon. To access the webcast, log on to the Investor Relations page of the BioLife Solutions website at www.biolifesolutions.com/earnings. Alternatively, you may access the live conference call by dialing [phone] (U.S. & Canada) or [phone] (International) with the following Conference ID: 7090558. A webcast replay will be available approximately two hours after the call and will be archived on www.biolifesolutions.com for 90 days.