Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings (LH) third-quarter earnings
rose 17% amid cost controls and continued growth of its esoteric
testing business, and the results beat Wall Street's views.
LabCorp, one of the world's largest diagnostic-testing
companies, has relied on acquisitions for growth in recent years.
LabCorp in August completed its $106.7 million acquisition of
Monogram Biosciences Inc., which makes products to help guide and
improve the treatment of serious diseases such as cancer.
LabCorp has continued to see operating results improve on strong
growth in its genomic and esoteric business. Rival Quest
Diagnostics Inc. (DGX) posted better-than-expected third-quarter
results on Tuesday, on strong overall demand for diagnostic testing
and a much-smaller drop in drug-testing sequentially.
For the third quarter, LabCorp reported a profit of $131.4
million, or $1.21 a share, up from $111.9 million, or $1 a share, a
year earlier. Excluding items such as restructuring charges,
earnings were up at $1.22 from $1.10.
Revenue increased 4.4% to $1.19 million, as testing volume edged
up 0.7%. Excluding the consolidtion of its Canada joint venture
revenue was up 4.3%.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters most recently forecast
earnings of $1.15 on revenue of $1.18 billion.
Gross margin rose to 42% from 40.7%.
Labcorp adjusted its 2009 earnings forecast to reflect 8 cents a
share dilution related to its acquisition of Monogram Biosciences
Inc. in August.
Shares closed Wednesday at $68.85 and didn't trade
premarket.
-By Tess Stynes, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2481; Tess.Stynes@dowjones.com;