Bio-Rad Life Science Sales Disappoint

Bio-Rad Laboratories reported after the close of the market on Thursday that its fourth-quarter revenues decreased 2.6 percent as sales for its life science business segment slumped nearly 8 percent. Leading the slump were disappointing sales from its North American Division, although Canada managed to eek out a gain for Q4.
The multi-national generated revenues of $448 million for the three-month period ended Dec. 31, compared to revenues of $459.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2008. The life science segment had revenues of $170.3 million for the quarter, while the clinical diagnostics segment had sales of $274 million, up 1 percent year over year.
Bio-Rad said that the life science business was "negatively impacted during the quarter by a drop in capital instrument sales, reflecting cutbacks by both academic and biopharmaceutical customers." In particular, sales of Chromatography and BSE products dragged on earnings.