Phase Forward Inc. had a pretty good run during the three months ended June 30, posting healthy sales and earnings increases and making a pair of acquisitions to broaden its portfolio of offerings.
The Waltham, Mass.-based clinical trial data management provider posted second-quarter sales of $52.5 million, up 29 percent compared with sales of $40.9 million during the same period last year.
And it made its second acquisition of the month, adding web-based and mobile patient reported outcomes and site-reported data collection provider Maaguzi to its stable, alongside its $10 million buyout of Covance Inc.’s Interactive Voice & Web Response Services earlier this month. Phase Forward also dropped $14 million on Waban Software in April.
The only dim spot came with poor earnings numbers for the quarter; net income slipped nearly 40 percent to $2.2 million, compared with $3.7 million during the second quarter of 2008.
that’s largely due to increased operating expenses. Although the company managed to trim its sales and marketing spend by about 1 percent year-on-year, both it’s research and development and general and administrative expenses rose (R&D was up about 3.2 percent and GA rose about 3.7 percent, year-on-year).
Taken together, all that added up to a total operating expenses increase of nearly 6 percent.
Still, company executives said the results were better than expected and the company predicted better things to come, forecasting sales of up to $54.5 million during the third quarter (including contributions of up to $1.3 million from the Covance and Maaguzi acquisitions).
For the full year, Phase Forward said it expects sales of up to $217.5 million, with as much as $3.5 million in revenues coming from the two most recent buyouts.