Covance Reports Full-Year 2007 Revenue Growth Of 15.4% and Seventh Consecutive Year of EPS Growth in Exc...( - 4Q EPS Grows 21.8% to $0....)

- 4Q EPS Grows 21.8% to $0.72 on 19.8% Revenue Growth -

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Covance Inc. (NYSE: CVD) today reported earnings for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2007 of $0.78 per diluted share and full-year EPS of $2.71; both periods include a $0.06 per share gain from the sale of its centralized ECG business. Excluding the gain on sale, earnings were $0.72 per diluted share in the fourth quarter, representing 21.8% year-over-year EPS growth, and $2.65 per diluted share for the full-year, representing annual EPS growth of 20.5% over 2006 EPS of $2.20 (which excludes a $0.04 per share tax gain from the 2006 results).

"I congratulate the entire Covance team for another year of outstanding achievement for our clients and shareholders. Increasing levels of client satisfaction led to strong repeat work resulting in more than $500 million in net orders for the quarter and a 20.6% growth in our backlog to $2.7 billion," said Joe Herring, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In the fourth quarter, revenue growth was robust at 19.8% and operating margins remained solid at 14.8%. Performance reflected strong demand for both our early- and late-stage development service offerings. In addition, we significantly reduced our DSO to 36 days, the lowest level in more than 5 years, helping to drive strong free cash flow for the quarter and the year.

"In 2007, our capital expenditures exceeded $200 million, with a substantial portion allocated to investments in capacity expansion and IT infrastructure to support our future growth. Covance's consistent history of generating strong returns on capital combined with the increasing demand for our drug development services, leads us to increase strategic capital investment in 2008 in order to support our long-term growth opportunity.

"Our ongoing success with productivity enhancements made a significant contribution again in 2007, as evidenced by a 4.3% increas
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