Core revenue fell nearly 12% year-on-year, with underlying core business revenue down by almost 5%, the company said.（1）Roche Diagnostics
Roche's Diagnostics Division posted sales of CHF 14.10 billion in 2023, a 20% decrease from CHF 17.73 billion in 2022, or a 13% drop at constant exchange rates, the company stated. The division’s underlying business grew by 7% at constant exchange rates. Sales from COVID-19 tests stood at CHF 0.8 billion, a decline from CHF 4.1 billion in 2022.
The growth of the underlying business was driven by immunoassay products, including cardiac tests, clinical chemistry assays and advanced staining solutions, Roche noted.
In the fourth quarter, diagnostic sales fell 5% to CHF 3.67 billion from CHF 3.88 billion in the same period of 2022. The company’s total sales in the fourth quarter of 2023 reached CHF 14.66 billion, down from CHF 16.24 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Within the Diagnostics Division, full-year 2023 revenue from molecular lab solutions plummeted 36% to CHF 2.22 billion from CHF 3.45 billion in 2022, accounting for 16% of total diagnostic sales. Cervical cancer testing sales rose 23%, blood screening sales increased 13%, and the core virology business grew 6%, Sause pointed out.
Sause also mentioned the newly launched LightCycler Pro, which hit the market in November 2023. He stated that the device would be a "highly competitive new entry" in the real-time PCR market.
Revenue from core lab solutions edged down from CHF 7.78 billion in 2022 to CHF 7.75 billion in 2023, making up 55% of total diagnostic sales. The division delivered particularly strong performance in the cardiac testing business, Sause added, with immunoassay and clinical chemistry businesses registering a 10% year-on-year growth.
（2）Siemens Healthineers Diagnostics New York — Siemens Healthineers reported a 7% overall year-on-year growth in non-COVID-related revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 on Thursday, with a 2% rise in its Diagnostics Division.
The company posted quarterly revenue of €5.18 billion (USD 5.6 billion) for the period ended December 31, a 2% increase from €5.08 billion a year earlier. Excluding currency and contract revaluation effects, its revenue climbed 6% year-on-year, the company said.
Diagnostic revenue of the company dropped 8% to €1.06 billion from €1.15 billion in the same quarter of the previous year, or a 4% decline excluding currency and portfolio effects. Excluding COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, a business the companydiscontinued in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023, its diagnostics business saw a nearly 2% year-on-year growth. Antigen test sales contributed €63 million to the company's revenue in the year-ago quarter.
Siemens also reported an adjusted EBIT margin of 5% for its diagnostics business, up from approximately 1% in the same period last year, as the company began to see cost reduction effects from its ongoing multi-year diagnostics business transformation and the extended service life of its leased lab analyzers.
"Transformation in the diagnostics area is well underway to unlock the full potential of the business," Montag said. "We are also seeing the positive impact of this transformation on our first-quarter results."
Siemens has been undergoing the transformation for more than a year, through which the company has been cutting costs to become a more streamlined business, phasing out old instrument product lines and integrating them into the company's Atellica portfolio of immunoassay and clinical chemistry analyzers, including the flagship Atellica Solution system. Siemens management stated last spring that the company had ceased new placements of analyzers from its Advia Centaur, Advia Chemistry and Dimension product lines.Through this transformation, Siemens targets cost savings of €300 million by 2025.
（3）Danaher Diagnostics Danaher reported a 10% year-on-year decline in total fourth-quarter sales, yet the results exceeded Wall Street's consensus estimates.
For the three months ended December 31, the Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate posted total sales of USD 6.41 billion, compared with USD 7.13 billion in the same period last year. Analysts had, on average, projected USD 5.64 billion in sales.
The results were in line with the preliminary figures the company released earlier this month.
Core revenue fell nearly 12% year-on-year, with underlying core business revenue down by almost 5%, the company said.By segment, life sciences revenue decreased 1% year-on-year to USD 1.93 billion from USD 1.95 billion, while diagnostic revenue dropped nearly 9% to USD 2.72 billion from USD 2.97 billion. The company's biotech segment revenue, which includes subsidiaries Cytiva and Pall, plummeted 21% to USD 1.76 billion from USD 2.22 billion.
In diagnostics, high-single-digit unit growth in the underlying business was more than offset by declining respiratory test revenue at Cepheid, Blair said. The clinical diagnostics business collectively achieved high-single-digit core revenue growth, driven by Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, which posted double-digit growth in both instruments and consumables.
In the molecular segment, Cepheid saw low-double-digit core revenue growth in its non-respiratory test business, with core revenue rising at a high-double-digit rate or more for Group A strep and sexual health tests, Blair noted. The subsidiary generated USD 650 million in respiratory revenue in the fourth quarter, surpassing Danaher's expected USD 350 million, fueled by high incidences of circulating respiratory viruses that drove higher volumes and preference for Cepheid's 4-in-1 test for SARS-CoV-2, influenza A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Respiratory test revenue totaled USD 1.9 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 1.6 billion in 2024. "Based on what we've seen over the past two years and discussions with customers and public health experts, we believe annual respiratory revenue will be approximately USD 1.5 billion in a typical respiratory season," Blair said.
Cepheid's respiratory product line is six times larger than it was before the pandemic and is "well-positioned to help customers meet their clinical needs and continue to gain market share," he pointed out.
（4）Hologic Diagnostics New York — Hologic reported a 6% year-on-year growth in organic non-COVID revenue in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 after the market close on Thursday, despite flat diagnostic revenue.
The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based company posted total quarterly revenue of USD 1.01 billion for the period ended December 30, a 6% decline from USD 1.07 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2023. However, the results topped Wall Street's consensus estimate of USD 986.1 million for the quarter and exceeded the company's earlier guidance of USD 960 million to USD 985 million.
The company’s Diagnostics Division revenue fell 20% to USD 447.8 million in the quarter, from USD 559.3 million in the year-ago period. Excluding COVID-19 test sales, the company’s organic diagnostic revenue was essentially flat at USD 388.1 million, compared with USD 387.7 million a year earlier.Hologic reported a 25% drop in molecular diagnostic revenue, the main component of its diagnostics business, to USD 319.8 million from USD 425.2 million a year ago. It also recorded a 5% decline in cytology and perinatal testing revenue to USD 120 million, from USD 126.8 million in the same quarter last year.
These declines were partially offset by a 10% growth in the company's blood screening diagnostic business, which generated USD 8 million in revenue, up from USD 7.3 million in the year-ago quarter.
Follow Official Account
