Orchid Cellmark Reports First Quarter 2008 Financi...( - U.S. Business Shows 21% Increase i...),Health

- U.S. Business Shows 21% Increase in Revenues and Notable Improvement in

Gross Margin - - Major Contracts Signed in U.K. With Potential Value of $10 Million -

PRINCETON, N.J., May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Orchid Cellmark Inc. (Nasdaq: ORCH), a leading worldwide provider of identity DNA testing services, today reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2008.

Total revenues were $14.5 million for the first quarter of 2008 compared to $14.0 million for the first quarter of 2007, an increase of approximately 4%. The increase in total revenues for the first quarter of 2008 compared to the first quarter of 2007 was largely due to increased total revenues in the company's U.S. forensic and paternity testing business, partially offset by lower revenues in the U.K. Orchid Cellmark recorded increases in its U.S. business that generates DNA profiles for the federal CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) and state DNA databases and in its U.S. paternity testing business, partially offset by lower revenues from its U.S. forensic casework business. The decrease in U.K. based revenues in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the comparable period in 2007 was due to lower volumes of immigration identity testing, animal DNA testing for scrapie susceptibility and reduced forensic revenue.

Total operating expenses, excluding cost of service revenue, for the first quarter of 2008 were $7.0 million compared to $6.1 million for the first quarter of 2007. The increases in operating expenses were primarily due to increases in general and administrative expenses, which were largely impacted by non-recurring legal fees related to a sizable state paternity contract that was awarded to Orchid and prot
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