Covance Reports First Quarter Revenue of $441M and EPS of $0.63; Updates Full Year Financi...( PRINCETON N.J. April 29 /- Covance In...)

PRINCETON, N.J., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD) today reported earnings for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009 of $0.63 per diluted share versus $0.76 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2008 (or $0.73 per diluted share after excluding the centralized ECG gain on sale).

"On a consolidated basis, first quarter net revenues grew 7.0% (13.8% excluding the impact of foreign exchange), operating margin was 12.7%, and diluted EPS of $0.63 met our first quarter expectation," said Joe Herring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "First quarter results were impacted by reduced market demand in Early Development, resulting in year-on-year and sequential declines in revenue and profitability, offset by record results in Late-Stage Development. Our forecast for Early Development results is to be sequentially flat in the second quarter, followed by sequential growth in the third and fourth quarters. In Late-Stage Development, increased demand led to accelerated revenue growth of 18.2% in the quarter (25.0% excluding the impact of foreign exchange) and exceptional operating margins of 22.6% (a 290 basis point increase above our previous record high).

"On the commercial front, adjusted net orders in the first quarter were $589 million, representing an adjusted book-to-bill ratio of 1.34 to 1. Central laboratory and clinical development services each delivered record adjusted net orders in the quarter, leading to a trailing twelve month book-to-bill for Late-Stage Development greater than 1.5 to 1.

"In December we released our initial financial targets for 2009, including revenue growth of 5% to 10% over 2008 and earnings per share in the range of $3.00 to $3.20. As previously outlined, these targets assumed foreign exchange rates would remain at budgeted levels throughout the year, Late
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