Given Imaging revenue jumps overall, due to Americas PillCam sales

PillCam 2 ESO capsule--image courtesy of Given Imaging

PillCam 2 ESO capsule--courtesy of Given Imaging">

Given Imaging's ($GIVN) regional performance during its 2012 first quarter varied wildly, depending on what part of the world you look at.

Overall, the Israeli company, perhaps best known for its PillCam camera capsules used for GI procedures, generated close to $42 million in revenue during the quarter, which it considered to be a record. Much of that growth came from the Americas, where revenue grew 11%, to $26.7 million. But sales dipped in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, falling 3.5% to $10.8 million. Even worse, Asia-Pacific revenues declined 10%, to $4.2 million, with dropping sales volumes in Japan leading that number (though they're expected to recover later this year).

The company eked out a tiny amount of net income during the quarter--about $200,000. But noteworthy is that the company's research and development expenses soared during the period to $2.2 million, up from $800,000 over the same period last year, as Given worked overtime to advance its PillCam Colon 2 pivotal trial in the U.S. and Japan.

Company CFO Yuval Yanai told the Israeli business newspaper Globes that the numbers were not a surprise. But he noted the company's sales in the U.S. grew steadily after several quarters of decline. He also pointed out to the newspaper that Given's revenue isn't solely about the PillCam anymore.

"We also showed strong growth in sales of diagnostics products that we've acquired over the past three years," he is quoted as saying. "Diagnostic products now account for 30% of our revenue."

Global sales of functional diagnostics products jumped 28% to $12.6 million during the quarter, versus $9.8 million last year, Given said. That's 30% of the company's overall revenue, Yanai told Globes.

- here's the earnings release
- read Globes' take