BioReference Laboratories Inc. (BRLI) News

The Company reported strong growth in all areas of its business

Aug. 26, 2010 (Business Wire) -- Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRLI) (Except for Per Share Data or where otherwise noted, numbers are in thousands) announced that the Company recorded current quarter revenues of $121,719, the best ever quarter in terms of revenues in corporate history and an increase of 25% over the $97,424 recorded in the third quarter, fiscal year 2009. Net income after taxes in Q3FY10 was $8,013 resulting in fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $.29, up 24% and 26% respectively from the prior fiscal year third quarter net income after taxes of $6,439 and EPS of $.23 ($.46 as reported prior to the 2 for 1 split effective 4/18/2010). Gross profit on revenues for the current quarter was $61,630 resulting in a margin for gross profit on revenues of 51%, versus the $49,261, also 51%, reported for the prior fiscal year third quarter. Revenue per patient for the third quarter of the current fiscal year was $82.70, an increase of 7% over the $77.61 reported for the same quarter of the prior fiscal year. The number of patients served increased 17% to 1,460 in the current quarter from the prior year third quarter total of 1,246. Esoteric business for the Company was 57% of revenues for the third quarter of the current fiscal year. The Company further noted that Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) were 94 days compared to the prior fiscal year same period when the DSO were 95 days.

Nine-month revenues increased to $331,428 (all nine month numbers exclusive of a one-time restitution amount recorded in the first quarter of the prior fiscal year), an increase of 27% over the same period revenues of $260,342 in the prior fiscal year. Net income after taxes for the first nine months of the current year was $17,804 resulting in an EPS of $.63; this was an increase of 29% from the prior year same period net income after taxes of $13,758 which resulted in an EPS of $.49 ($.99 as reported prior to the 2 for 1 split effective 4/18/2010). The Company reported gross profit on revenues for the current nine month period of $162,807, resulting in a margin for gross profit on revenues of 49% compared to the prior year same period of $127,252 which also resulted in a margin of 49%. The number of patients served increased 22% to 4,072 in the first nine months of the current year from the prior year same period total of 3,339.

Marc D. Grodman, MD, CEO, commented "A year ago, we reported that our third quarter was a watershed moment for BioReference. At that time, faced with a very favorable comparison based on the prior year third quarter, our revenues were up 25%. Patient count was up 20%. This year on very tough comparisons, we are up 25% in revenues, 17% in patient count. We grew in the right way: based on investments in cancer, women’s health and genetics. We are investing more than we ever have in growth areas where we see opportunities. Even as our investment in professionals, technology, sales and marketing has not lessened, however, neither has our growth."

Dr. Grodman further noted: "Our Women’s Health program continues to be highly successful. In just under two years we have gone from offering the program regionally to expanding to national coverage; we have gone from no dedicated salespersons to over 80 Women’s Health salespersons selling nationally; we have seen our nightly pap smear testing volume nearly quadruple, most including additional molecular testing. We have built this program with all the best elements of our business model – better support, better marketing, better science. GeneDx has also enjoyed considerable growth, not only in revenues, but also in our ability to synthesize the expertise of this wonderful acquisition and seamlessly integrate genetic medicine into all of our offerings, becoming in essence our incubator for new clinical solutions. There is nowhere that this approach will be more apparent than the coalescence of GeneDX and our Women's Health Program and our new offerings in Pre Natal testing. GenPath, our cancer diagnostic laboratory, continues to grow, consistent with our belief that the best diagnostics is the appropriate diagnostics. With regard to creating new, clinically relevant solutions in oncology, in the coming quarters we will demonstrate how personalized medicine can really make a difference in delineating cancer care."

Dr. Grodman continued: "We are fully aware of the headwinds reported by other publicly traded laboratories; while we make no comment on the business of our competitors; our numbers most certainly speak for themselves. We are not an index fund for the laboratory industry. Physician visits will affect us at the margins of our expansion in most cases. We are a Company dedicated to growth and we have seen tremendous opportunity to grow in our markets. Our quarterly and nine month revenue expansion has been the result of that dedicated focus. We continue to invest in the technology and professional capability, as well as the marketing and sales, to assure our continued growth. We are who we thought we were—a growth company operating in the most exciting areas of clinical laboratory medicine with a strong sense of clinical relevance and the wherewithal to invest in what we believe is important."

The Company's third quarter earnings conference call has been scheduled to take place this morning, August 26, 2010 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The live audio Web cast will be available at the Company's corporate Web site, www.bioreference.com and through www.streetevents.com. To listen to the call please go to either Web site ten minutes before the conference call is scheduled to begin. You will need to register as well as download and install any necessary audio software. The Web cast will be archived, on both Web sites, for 30 days following the call.

About BioReference Laboratories, Inc.

BRLI is the third largest full service laboratory in the United States and the largest independent regional laboratory in the Northeastern market, primarily a clinical testing lab servicing physician offices with concentrations in the focused markets of esoteric testing, molecular diagnostics, anatomical pathology and correctional health care. BRLI operates as a national oncology laboratory under its GenPath label. Better science, superior technology and better service have enabled GenPath to earn a reputation as one of the premier hematopathology laboratories in the country. BRLI’s innovative technology platform for sexually transmitted infections has enabled it to expand as a national laboratory in the area of Women’s Health. GeneDx, a wholly owned subsidiary, is the BRLI genetics laboratory and is typically recognized as the leading laboratory for testing of rare genetic diseases; GeneDx has now become a technology leader with GenomeDx, based on a CGH array platform and its NextGen sequence offerings that are currently offered in cardiology and will be offered in the future in other disease specific areas.

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Statements included in this release that are not historical in nature, are intended to be, and are hereby identified as “forward-looking statements”. Statements looking forward in time are included in this release pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the Company’s actual results in future periods to be materially different from any future performance suggested herein.

www.bioreference.com

Bio-Reference Laboratories, Inc.

Investor Relations Coordinator

Tara Mackay, 201-791-2600

Fax: 201-791-1941

tmackay@bioreference.com