MorphoSys AG — Earnings Release 2004

Apr 29, 2004

News Details

Corporate | 29 April 2004 07:31

MorphoSys Reports First Quarter 2004 Results

Corporate-news announcement processed and sent by DGAP. The sender is solely responsible for the contents of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Martinsried/Munich, April 29, 2004 MorphoSys Reports First Quarter 2004 Results Company Profitable for 2nd Consecutive Quarter MorphoSys AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange: MOR; Prime Standard Segment) today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2004. Revenues increased by 14% to EUR 4.2 million, and total operating expenses decreased by 20% to EUR 4.4 million. The Company reported a quarterly profit – the second consecutive quarter in which earnings have been positive – which amounted to EUR 0.5 million (March 31, 2003: EUR -1.8 million loss). A positive EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization), excluding stock-based compensation, was also maintained, amounting to EUR 1.5 million in the first quarter of 2004 (March 31, 2003: EUR -0.7 million). The Company’s cash position equaled EUR 23.8 million at the end of the first quarter 2004, up from EUR 23.2 million at year-end 2003. Revenues grew by 14% in the first three months of 2004 to EUR 4.2 million (March 31, 2003: EUR 3.7 million). Total operating expenses including stock-based compensation for the first three months of 2004 amounted to EUR 4.4 million, compared to EUR 5.5 million in the same period of 2003. Research and development costs decreased to EUR 2.6 million from EUR 2.7 million; sales, general & administrative expenses amounted to EUR 1.5 million compared to EUR 2.2 million, and stock-based compensation fell to EUR 0.3 million (March 31, 2003: EUR 0.5 million). Amortization of intangibles and depreciation amounted to EUR 0.8 million for the first three months of 2004 (March 31, 2003: EUR 0.5 million). Non-operating income in the first three months of 2003 amounted to EUR 0.6 million (March 31, 2003: non-operating loss of EUR 0.1 million). The resulting net income per share for the first three months of 2004 amounted to EUR 0.10 (March 31, 2003: loss per share of EUR 0.46). Highlights of the First Quarter 2004 Included: – Payment from GPC Biotech to MorphoSys for the extension of a license to a HuCAL(R) antibody to treat certain types of leukemia – Achievement of further milestones in the Centocor collaboration, and the start of a new therapeutic antibody project in the area of auto-immune diseases – Cross-licensing agreement with Bayer Healthcare providing Bayer with HuCAL GOLD(R) and securing access for MorphoSys to the human cell line HKB 11 – Announcement of the formation of its new antibody business unit, “Antibodies by Design” – Granting of additional U.S. patents for proprietary HuCAL(R) antibody technologies Commenting on the numbers, Dave Lemus, Chief Financial Officer of MorphoSys AG said: “Today’s results represent an excellent start to the year for MorphoSys. We have now achieved two quarters in a row in which bottom-line earnings were positive. This is an important step in helping us realize our objective of a second year where EBITDA is positive.” MorphoSys will hold a public conference call today at 10:00 CET to present the financial results of the first quarter 2004. Dial-in number for the Conference Call (listen-only): +49 (0)69 22223 105 Please dial in 10 minutes before the beginning of the conference. A replay of the conference call will be available on http://www.morphosys.com . About MorphoSys: MorphoSys develops and applies technologies for the production of synthetic antibodies, which accelerate drug discovery and disease-related target molecules. The Company was founded in 1992 and has a wide range of innovative technologies, above all HuCAL(R), the Human Combinatorial Antibody Library, which is used by researchers worldwide for human antibody generation. The Company has collaborations with international pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer (Berkeley, California/USA), Biogen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Wilmington, Delaware/USA), Centocor Inc. (Malvern, Pennsylvania/USA), GPC Biotech AG (Martinsried/Germany), Hoffmann-La Roche AG (Basel/Switzerland), ImmunoGen Inc. (Cambridge, Massachusetts/USA), Oridis Biomed GmbH (Graz/Austria), Pfizer Inc. (Delaware/USA), ProChon Biotech Ltd. (Rehovot/Israel), Schering AG (Berlin/Germany) and Xoma Ltd. (Berkeley, California/USA). Further information can be found on the Company’s website: http://www.morphosys.com . Statements included in this press release which are not historical in nature are intended to be, and are hereby identified as, “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the safe harbour provided by Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words including “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “expects” and similar expressions. The company cautions readers that forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the company’s future operations and business prospects, are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may affect future operations and business prospects include, but are not limited to, clinical and scientific results and developments concerning corporate collaborations and the company’s proprietary rights and other factors described in the prospectus relating to the company’s recent public offering. For more information, please contact MorphoSys: Dave Lemus Chief Financial Officer Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-439 Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-5439 investors@morphosys.com Dr. Claudia Gutjahr-Löser Mario Brkulj Director Corporate Communications PR Specialist Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-122 Tel: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-454 Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-5122 Fax: +49 (0) 89 / 899 27-5454 gutjahr-loeser@morphosys.com brkulj@morphosys.com end of message, (c)DGAP 29.04.2004 ——————————————————————————– WKN: 663200; ISIN: DE0006632003; Index: Nemax 50 Listed: Geregelter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr in Berlin- Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, München und Stuttgart 290731 Apr 04