Revenue and Earnings Driven by Strong InLight Demand Globally

GLENWOOD, Ill., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Landauer, Inc. (NYSE: LDR), a recognized leader in personal and environmental radiation monitoring services, today reported financial results for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2009.

Fiscal 2009 Third Quarter Highlights

• Revenue grew 7 percent to $23.5 million on continued global demand for InLight products and increased domestic badge revenues.
• Gross profit grew 4 percent to $15.6 million on increased revenue.
• Effective tax rate declined to 30 percent due primarily to changes in Illinois state tax law and tax benefit of funding frozen pension plan.
• Net income grew 13 percent to $6.5 million, or $0.70 per diluted share.
  

"We are pleased with this quarter's financial results, which were driven substantially by InLight sales both domestically and abroad," stated Bill Saxelby, President and CEO of Landauer. "During the quarter we made significant InLight product placements across several markets we have targeted for growth including the U.S. military, the first responder market, and patient monitoring. In addition, we continued to drive global expansion through the continuation of our relationship with Health Canada and placement of InLight products into Southeast Asia through our joint venture with Nagase-Landauer."

"The continued acceptance of our InLight suite of products, success of our international expansion initiative and adoption of our offerings in the medical, nuclear and military markets affirm the long-term growth prospects for our business. We have also made significant progress in our current systems initiative, delivering successfully on several important milestones during the quarter."

Saxelby noted, "We are pleased with the progress we've made in fiscal 2009. Landauer's performance demonstrates the success of our continued focus on executing our strategic priorities: optimizing our core business, driving competitive growth, and pursuing strategic expansion. Our strong cash flow generation has provided us with the sufficient capital to execute on all three of our strategic priorities."

Revenue Growth Continues

Revenues for the third fiscal quarter of 2009 were $23.5 million, a 7 percent increase compared with the $21.9 million reported for the third fiscal quarter of 2008. Domestic revenue increased 5 percent, or $0.7 million, on InLight product demand and growth in domestic badge revenue. Organic international revenue growth of approximately 27 percent was offset by the impact of the strengthening of the dollar against most foreign currencies, which reduced revenue by approximately $0.7 million in the quarter, resulting in a reported increase of 14 percent, or $0.8 million.

Cost of sales increased 14 percent for the quarter due to increased cost of materials to support growth in InLight products sales. Gross margin declined to 66 percent from 68 percent in the year ago period due to the revenue mix. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the third fiscal quarter of 2009 increased 2 percent, or $141,000, driven primarily by increased expense spending to replace the Company's information technology systems that support customer relationship management and the order-to-cash cycle.

The effective tax rate for the third fiscal quarter of 2009 decreased to 30 percent compared with 35 percent for the third fiscal quarter of 2008. The reduction is due primarily to a change in the state tax rate driven by changes in the Illinois state tax law and the tax benefit of funding the frozen pension plan. Net income for the fiscal quarter ended June 30, 2009 was $6.5 million, an increase of 13 percent compared with $5.8 million for the third fiscal quarter of 2008. The resulting diluted earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter of 2009 were $0.70 compared with $0.62 for the third fiscal quarter of 2008.

For the nine months ended on June 30, 2009, revenues increased 5 percent to $70.9 million versus $67.5 million at this time last year. The gross profit margin was 67 percent versus 68 percent from last year's nine-month period ended June 30, 2008. Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 increased $87,000 compared to the first nine months of fiscal 2008.

On February 5, 2009, the Board of Directors approved changes to the Company's retirement benefit plans to transition from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution approach to retirement benefits. As a result of the changes, the Company recognized $2.2 million ($1.5 million after-tax) of non-recurring pension curtailment and transition costs during the second fiscal quarter of 2009. In addition, the Company initiated a management reorganization plan to strengthen selected roles in the organization. As a result, the Company recognized $489,000 ($322,000 after-tax) of non-recurring reorganization charges during the second fiscal quarter of 2009.

Year-to-date net income was $18.1 million, an increase of 3.5 percent from $17.5 million in the prior year period. Earnings per diluted share were $1.94 compared with $1.89 for the same period last year.