LION delays third-quarter results
results after a change in its accounting procedures that will see
licence revenues spread across the term of the contracts, instead
of booked in the quarter they are signed.
The accounting revision is expected to increase revenue and decrease net loss for the company for the first nine months of the 2003-2004 fiscal year.The company now expects to report restated revenue of €30 million for fiscal year ended March 31, 2003, compared to €29.7 million previously reported.
LION has been left in financial difficulties after an unsuccessful foray into in-house drug discovery, and latterly has resructured itself as a bioinformatics pure-play, focusing on the integration of biological data.
The process has been painful, involving the loss of more than 60 per cent of its staff by the end of the fiscal year in March 2004, and last month LION founder and chief executive Friedrich von Bohlen stepped down to allow new management to lead the re-focused company.
As a result of the accounting changes, net loss is expected to be reduced by €4 million for the nine months that ended December 31, 2003, said the company. The reduction in net loss will occur even though LION Bioscience racked up €20.6 million in restructuring charges during the third quarter.
The company is now expecting to report total revenue of around €16.6 million for the nine months ending 31 December, compared to €20.6 million in the like, year-earlier period.
LION expects to have full-year revenues of €19-€20 million, buoyed in part by the restatement. However, chief financial officer Martin Hollenhorst said in a conference call that a general slowdown in the life science informatics market, as well as currency impacts and the slower than expected launch of new products are all adversely affecting the company.
