SANTA CLARA (dpa-AFX) - Scientific instruments maker Agilent Technologies Inc. (A), Monday reported a sharp drop in profit for the fourth quarter, hurt mainly by one-time costs associated with the spin-off of Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS). Earnings for the quarter fell short of Wall Street expectations by a penny, while revenues were in line with estimates.
Santa Clara, California-based Agilent Technologies' fourth quarter profit dropped to $16 million or $0.05 per share from $211 million or $0.63 per share last year.
For the fourth quarter, Agilent reported pre-separation costs of $70 million, intangible amortization of $47 million, a net loss on extinguishment of debt of $68 million, charges of $68 million related to exiting the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance business, and a tax expense of $13 million.
On November 1, Agilent completed the spin off of Keysight Technologies Inc. (KEYS), in order to improve its growth. Agilent focuses on life sciences, diagnostics and applied markets, while Keysight's business include electronic measurement products.
Excluding one-time items, adjusted earnings for the quarter rose to $297 million or $0.88 per share from $271 million or $0.81 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.89 per share for the fourth quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Agilent revenues for the fourth quarter grew 5 percent to $1.81 billion from $1.72 billion a year ago. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.81 billion for the quarter.
Agilent's Life Sciences, Diagnostics and Applied Chemical Markets revenue rose 3 percent to $1.04 billion from last year, reflecting growth across all key end markets.
'Our LDA business finished the year strong, with record revenues and orders,' said Agilent CEO Bill Sullivan. 'During the quarter, while generating these record numbers, we completed the company separation flawlessly, without business disruption to either company.'
Revenues of Electronic Measurement, now Keysight, rose to $762 million from $705 million last year.
Looking forward to the first quarter, the company expects adjusted earnings of $0.39 to $0.43 per share and revenues of $1.02 billion to $1.04 billion. Analysts currently expect earnings of $0.42 per share on revenues of $1.02 billion for the quarter.
For the full year 2015, Agilent expects adjusted earnings of $1.68 to $1.78 per share and revenues of $4.12 billion to $4.18 billion . Analysts currently expect earnings of $1.74 per share on revenues of $4.17 billion for 2015.
Agilent said it plans to return about $500 million to shareholders in fiscal year 2015, including about $135 million in dividends and $365 million in buybacks.
A closed Monday's trading at $41.24, down $0.33 or 0.79%, on the NYSE. The stock further dropped $0.19 or 0.46% in the after-hours trade.
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