Qiagen NV announced results of operations for the fourth quarter and the 12-month period ended December 31, 2010. Net sales and adjusted earnings per share for both periods were in line with expectations provided by Qiagen on November 8, 2010.

Net sales rose 8% (+8% at constant exchange rates, or CER) to $1.087 billion in 2010 from $1.010 billion in 2009, and rose 12% CER when excluding swine flu-related products. Operating income of $188.5 million rose 5% from $180.2 million in 2009. Net income grew 5% to $144.3 million from $137.8 million in 2009, while diluted earnings per share were $0.60 (based on 240.5 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding) in 2010 compared to $0.64 in 2009 (based on 213.6 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding).

Adjusted operating income in 2010 rose 4% to $308.2 million from $296.1 million in 2009, with the adjusted operating income margin steady at 29% CER in 2010 compared to the previous year. Adjusted net income advanced 12% to $222.7 million in 2010 from $199.6 million in 2009. Adjusted diluted earnings per share were unchanged at $0.93 in both years.

Results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2010 include the results of operations from recent acquisitions, notably SABiosciences Corp. (acquired in December 2009) and DxS Ltd. (acquired in September 2009).

Net sales in the fourth quarter of 2010 declined 1% to $286.0 million, but were unchanged at CER, and rose 7% CER when excluding swine flu-related products. Operating income rose 18% to $50.8 million from $42.9 million in the same quarter of 2009. Net income declined 18% to $36.3 million from $44.5 million in the 2009 quarter, which included a one-time tax-free gain of $11 million from the sale of an investment. Diluted earnings per share in the 2010 quarter were $0.15 (based on 239.4 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding) compared to $0.18 in the fourth quarter of 2009 (based on 241.0 million weighted average shares and share equivalents outstanding).

Adjusted operating income declined 1% to $82.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2010 from $83.4 million in the 2009 quarter, while adjusted net income rose 8% to $62.0 million in the 2010 period from $57.6 million in the comparable 2009 period. Adjusted diluted earnings per share rose to $0.26 from $0.24 in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Improved performances in all customer classes in 2010 drove organic sales growth of 8% CER when excluding significant one-time contributions from swine flu-related products in 2009. Acquisitions within the last 12 months provided an additional 4%, resulting in 12% CER total sales growth.

Among product categories (excluding swine flu-related sales), consumables and related revenues in 2010 represented 85% of net sales and grew 12% CER over 2009. Instrumentation represented 15% of net sales in 2010 and rose 12% CER.

At constant exchange rates, the Americas (48% of sales), Europe (38% of sales), and Asia/Japan (12% of sales) all advanced at solid growth rates in 2010 compared to 2009.

For the fourth quarter (excluding swine flu-related products), organic sales were up 4% CER, with acquisitions providing 3% and resulting in 7% CER total sales growth compared to the particularly strong year-ago performance. Consumables and related revenues rose 8% CER from the 2009 period, while instrument sales rose 2% CER.

Molecular diagnostics (48% of total sales) increased on solid demand in several areas of healthcare, particularly the profiling portfolio used primarily for infectious disease testing. Full-year sales rose 14% CER over 2009, while sales in the fourth quarter grew 7% CER over the 2009 period. In prevention, sales of HPV screening tests and genotyping solutions declined as expected in the fourth quarter of 2010, as successful U.S. market adoption initiatives - which have increased penetration to more than 40% in 2010 - were offset by the economically induced, significant decline in patient visits to doctors. Dynamic growth in personalized healthcare was underpinned by the more than 15 projects under way with pharmaceutical companies to develop companion diagnostics.

Applied testing (6% of total sales) benefited from major portfolio expansion initiatives that added more than 80 new tests during 2010 to address new European standards in forensic testing and food safety. Full-year sales rose 22% CER, while sales grew 5% CER in the fourth quarter over the 2009 quarter, and were supported by double-digit CER sales growth in consumables.