Neogen highlights food safety ops as 2010 profit driver
The company said both income and revenue, which climbed 18 per cent to $140.5m in the year to 31 May, 2010 were the highest in its history – highlighting it food safety division as a prime driver of growth.
Neogen also reported strong Q4 figures with revenues increasing 27 per cent year-on-year to $39m. Net income jumped 36 per cent to $4.6m compared to 2009.
Lon Bohannon, company president, said it was targeting future annual growth in the region of 20 per cent thanks to a combination of organic expansion coupled with an active acquisition strategy.
European operations
The company’s European subsidiary in Scotland recorded a year-on-year 24 per cent increase in revenues – thanks in part to a “sharp increases in sales” of it food safety diagnostics products, said Bohannon.
The European operations had also been boosted by the takeover of Biokits food safety operations from Gen-Probe, added CEO Jim Herbert. The company, which added a number of food allergen diagnostic tests to the Neogen portfolio, brought in extra revenue of $3m based on business prior to the acquisition completion. He added that Neogen had also grown this business in the US and Europe thanks to its broader distribution network and larger sales operation.
US performance
The company’s US-based food safety division recorded a FY 2010 revenue increase of 25 per cent to $76.4m – thanks to an organic growth in sales and the purchase of Biokits. Cool, wet weather experienced in the US corn belt in 2009 led to sharp increases in demand for tests to detect mycotoxins.
Herbert said he expected the company’s annual revenues to hit $200m by 2013 on the “continued worldwide concern about food safety back inside the farm gate, as well as from the processing plant to the dinner plate”
