CRO

Quintiles posts another $1B quarter and dials up its expectations

Quintiles CEO Tom Pike

Quintiles ($Q), the world's largest CRO, is rolling toward its biggest year yet on the heels of a fourth straight quarter with more than $1 billion in sales.

The company grew its year-over-year revenue by about 14%, grossing roughly $1.1 billion on the way to $92.7 million in net income, a 39% jump. Quintiles' product development segment leaped 8% to $771.4 million and rounded out the quarter with $1.27 billion in net new business, while its smaller healthcare services business soared 33% to $289.6 million and signed $244 million in new contracts.

For the full year, Quintiles is projecting slightly less than previously guided on the revenue front, lowering its outlook by about 1% to $4.2 billion to reflect currency fluctuations and setting itself up for a 10% jump over 2013. However, the company has lifted its full-year earnings guidance to between $2.61 and $2.68 per share, which would amount to a 30% increase over last year at the high end.

On the whole, Quintiles' net new business jumped 13%, giving it a book-to-bill ratio of 1.42 for the quarter and paving the way for further growth, CEO Tom Pike said.

"Quintiles is a story of consistent performance with a focus on industry leadership, and I am proud to report that this story continued in the third quarter of 2014," Pike said in a statement. "... [N]et new business allowed Quintiles to keep its industry-leading backlog of $10.75 billion. Our strong performance continues to strengthen our platform which allows us to capitalize on strategic priorities and create value for our customers and investors."

- read the results