Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) reported that its 2010 fourth-quarter profit soared more than 800 percent, as orders jumped in all sectors and its acquisition of Varian Inc. began to pay off.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based electronic testing equipment maker reported profits of $232 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, on sales of $1.58 billion for the three months ended Oct. 31. That compares with profits of $25 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, on sales of $1.17 billion a year earlier. The number includes a $42 million tax benefit and a $54 million gain related to the closure of pre-Agilent spin-off income tax audits.
The company, which develops devices to analyze chemicals and DNA, said its orders jumped 32 percent to $1.69 billion for its Q4.
Revenue from its chemical analysis business grew 73 percent to $389 million, while revenue from its life science business rose 35 percent to $431 million. The two segments together accounted for nearly half of the company’s total revenue for the fourth quarter. Electronic Measurement revenues were up 23 percent from a year earlier
The company said its integration of Varian is on track to meet targeted revenue after the $1.5 billion acquisition completed in May.
“This past quarter marked the completion of Agilent’s transformation, a milestone in our company’s history,” said Agilent CEO Bill Sullivan in prepared remarks.
The fourth-quarter results include a tax benefit of $42 million and a $54 million gain from the closure of pre-Agilent spin-off income tax audits. It has Varian-related integration costs of $43 million, intangible amortization of $30 million and restructuring charges of $18 million.
For the current quarter, Agilent expects revenue to be between $1.53 billion and $1.55 billion, and adjusted earnings to be between $0.55 per share and $0.57 per share.
“We are starting the new fiscal year with an industry-leading product portfolio and expect to continue the momentum with strong organic growth and great market opportunities created by the Varian product portfolio,” said Sullivan.
Agilent shares closed at $36.36, up about 1.8 percent for the day.
