Agribusiness  May 7, 2020

Heska earnings in line with Wall Street estimates, but foreshadow economic hit from COVID

LOVELAND — Veterinary diagnostic company Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) met Wall Street’s expectations for revenue in the previous quarter, but the company expects to begin feeling the effects of COVID-19 economic crisis through the rest of the year.

Loveland-based Heska posted revenues of $30.65 million and a loss of 14 cents per share in the first quarter of the year, beating consensus analyst estimates by $280,000 but missing the per-share mark by a cent, according to data compiled by finance website Seeking Alpha.

Overall, Heska lost $5.3 million in the quarter.

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The company’s revenue increased 3.9% from the same period a year ago, offsetting 20% sales drops in lab instruments and infusion pumps in the quarter, with a 60% increase in its pharmaceutical sales. The results for the period don’t include revenue from scil animal care company GmbH, which Heska acquired earlier this year for $110 million.

In a statement accompanying the figures, Heska said it didn’t lay off, furlough or cut salaries for any employee in the quarter because veterinarians and herd health experts have been able to continue practicing through the pandemic. 

“I believe that properly prepared companies, in structurally sound industries, that invest in their people and capabilities during difficult times like these will be in a position for above market performance when uncertainty recedes. Heska intends to be one of these companies,” CEO Kevin Wilson said in a prepared statement.

However, Heska believes the ongoing crisis from COVID-19 could force some vets to scale back purchases of new diagnostic equipment, affecting revenue from that sector of the business. It now projects net new customer acquisition to decline as much as 60% this year compared with its original estimates at the beginning of 2020.

While it now projects to record between $175 million and $185 million in revenues this year under revised estimates, Heska said its EBITDA margin is expected to drop from 8.5% in 2019 to between 4% to 6% at the end of this year.

LOVELAND — Veterinary diagnostic company Heska Corp. (Nasdaq: HSKA) met Wall Street’s expectations for revenue in the previous quarter, but the company expects to begin feeling the effects of COVID-19 economic crisis through the rest of the year.

Loveland-based Heska posted revenues of $30.65 million and a loss of 14 cents per share in the first quarter of the year, beating consensus analyst estimates by $280,000 but missing the per-share mark by a cent, according to data compiled by finance website Seeking Alpha.

Overall, Heska lost $5.3 million in the quarter.

The company’s revenue increased 3.9% from…

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