Exhibit 99.1
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Steve Quinlan, Chief Financial Officer
517.372.9200, squinlan@neogen.com
Neogen Announces Record Revenue in First Quarter
LANSING, Mich., September 21, 2021 — Neogen Corporation (NASDAQ: NEOG) announced today the results of the first quarter of its 2022 fiscal year, which ended August 31. Revenues were $128,305,000, a 17% increase compared to the previous year’s first quarter revenues of $109,325,000. The company’s Food Safety and Animal Safety segments each recorded double-digit increases in organic sales in the first quarter, representing the third straight quarter of double-digit organic growth at both segments.
This quarter marked the 117th of the past 123 quarters that Neogen has reported revenue increases compared to the same period in the prior year.
Net income for the first quarter was $17,077,000, or $0.16 per share, compared to $15,860,000, or $0.15 per share, in the previous year’s first quarter. For each comparative period, earnings per share amounts have been adjusted to reflect the company’s 2-for-1 stock split on June 4.
“As the world continues to weather the COVID-19 pandemic, our strong results showcase Neogen’s resilience and perseverance,” said John Adent, Neogen’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “I am pleased that we are reporting growth across almost all of our core product lines. Additionally, our Food Safety sales team has seen tremendous excitement surrounding our new Megazyme product offerings, which have now been integrated into our product portfolio. This positive start to our new fiscal year makes us optimistic for the remainder of the year.”
Gross margins were 46.8% of sales in the first quarter of the fiscal year, compared to 46.0% recorded in the same period a year ago, due to sales of higher margin products within the Food Safety segment. First quarter operating expenses increased by 22% over the prior year’s first quarter; in last year’s first fiscal quarter, the company took a number of cost reduction actions due to the economic uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, totaling approximately $2.5 million. As business conditions improved through the remainder of fiscal 2021, spending returned to pre-pandemic levels. Operating income for the quarter was $21,727,000, an increase of 15%, compared to $18,895,000 a year ago. Operating income continues to be impacted by higher costs in many areas, particularly freight, due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We continue to face challenges due to supply chain issues, labor shortages and higher product costs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate this, we recently implemented price increases where appropriate, and our operations teams have taken a number of actions to control costs,” said Steve Quinlan, Neogen’s Chief Financial Officer. “Our international operations performed well during the quarter, with overall revenues increasing 20%, aided in part by the Megazyme acquisition and currency tailwinds provided by a stronger British pound and Mexican peso.”
Revenues for the company’s Food Safety segment were $62,722,000 in the current quarter, compared to $54,185,000 in the prior year’s first quarter, an increase of 16%; organic growth for the segment was 10%. The growth was due to strong increases across the company’s diagnostics portfolio, including culture media (36%), allergens (17%), pathogens (15%) and environmental sanitation (14%). The company’s December 2020 acquisition of Megazyme, a food quality and nutritional analysis business, also contributed.
The recently launched AccuPoint® Advanced NG contributed to the increase in environmental sanitation, as the handheld monitoring system and related analytics program have continued to gain market acceptance since its launch in May 2021. Sales of Neogen’s Soleris® product line recorded a 9% increase in consumables; equipment sales were flat over the prior year, in part due to difficult comparisons resulting from an 85% increase in the prior year period, as the company successfully launched its next generation reader.
